Twelve years ago, West Liberty Foods LLC’s (WLF) facility (West Liberty, Iowa) was scheduled to close.
“But Paul Hill, chairman of the board, worked with 46 other turkey farmers to purchase [it] so they would continue to have an outlet for their birds,” said Mike DeSmet, vice president of food safety and quality at WLF.
“That was the start of a very interesting adventure,” he told attendees of the Food Safety & Security Summit expo and conference, held March 17-19 in Washington, D.C.’s Washington Convention Center.
DeSmet had just accepted the award for West Liberty Foods, winner of the 7th Annual Food Quality Award, sponsored by DuPont Qualicon (Wilmington, Del.) and presented by Food Quality magazine.
The award, which recognizes companies making exceptional contributions to food safety and customer satisfaction that have a positive effect on business results, was presented during a reception on Tuesday, March 18, in the convention center’s Keynote Theater.
On stage with DeSmet to accept the award were Hill and LeAnn Smith, senior manager of regulatory and customer compliance.
DeSmet continued, “In 1999, Ed Garrett, our CEO, who, regrettably, was unable to be with us tonight, brought his years of experience to West Liberty Foods to help provide some direction to this young company.”
One of the first things Garrett made “very clear was that food safety was a priority. He was going to position this company as food safety first, and the rest would fall in line. And it has,” DeSmet noted.
Accepting the award, DeSmet said: “We would like you to know what an honor it is to receive the Food Quality Award. We would like to thank Food Quality magazine for such a great event and DuPont Qualicon for sponsoring this award.”
DeSmet noted that LeAnn Smith “has been with the company from the start and has been in her current position for the past five years. It was under her guidance that our application was written and submitted.”
DeSmet, who has been with WLF for more than three years, also said, “We all know that food safety and quality start at the top, and I can tell you that this is truly the case with West Liberty. When the people at the top are preaching, conveying, and practicing food safety and quality, it makes my job much easier.”
Quality through
Collaboration
Based on comments from the judges, “It’s clear that West Liberty Foods has implemented outstanding innovations in their approach to food safety,” said Luiz
Fischmann, global marketing manager for DuPont Qualicon. “We looked forward to hearing more about their program at this year’s award reception.”
One judge cited the company for “the cooperative work they have done with Iowa State to develop sanitation programs [that] they implement across all facilities.”
Another judge noted that “West Liberty Foods is a clear leader in the use of innovative technologies to drive improvement in quality and food safety, as well as in ‘lower tech’ approaches, such as uniform design.”
West Liberty Foods, a leading co-packer, private label manufacturer, and food service supplier of processed meat and poultry products, has about 1,300 employees. The company had more than $560 million in net sales last year.
The award’s sponsor, DuPont Qualicon, is a business within the DuPont Agriculture and Nutrition portfolio that provides science-based diagnostic products designed to reduce the impact of pathogens and other unwelcome organisms on food and pharmaceuticals. The two runners up for the award were Broetje Orchards/First Fruits of Washington (Prescott, Wash.) and Dole Fresh Vegetables salad production facility in Soledad, Calif.
—By Tom Giordano