According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, foodborne illnesses affect 48 million people in the U.S. annually. If you've ever had food poisoning, you know how unpleasant — and sometimes serious — it can be. Many cases require hospital treatment, and the experience often leaves a lasting impression.

Whether the culprit was undercooked meat or expired ingredients, if the food came from a business, you won't be eager to return. Even a single food poisoning incident can cause lasting damage — eroding customer trust, triggering costly recalls and cutting into sales.

Food safety isn't optional. Businesses must prioritize consumer protection at every stage, from sourcing to packaging. Partnering with certified providers is one of the most effective ways to do that. Here's why SQF certification is nonnegotiable for national brands.

What Is Safe Quality Food?

SQF is a standard recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative, an international quality assurance program designed to ensure food safety throughout the supply chain. Widely recognized worldwide, there are 14,000 certified sites in 40 countries.

To earn SQF certification, a business must undergo a third-party audit to prove it meets specific standards. Those standards vary based on the modules selected, each tailored to different industries and supply chain niches — from primary production to food service and retail.

SQF covers anything that might affect a product's safety, including how it was:

• Produced and grown
• Harvested
• Packaged
• Stored
• Transported

When a business achieves SQF certification, it demonstrates its ability to consistently meet best food safety practices and willingness to go the extra mile.

5 Reasons Your Partner Should Be SQF-Certified

The business that holds the SQF certification isn't the only one that benefits. With an SQF-certified business partner, you can reap rewards, too.

1. Protect Your Customers

Thanks to the rigorous standards SQF businesses must adhere to, SQF-certified food has extra protection. Your customers are much less likely to eat expired or mishandled food that could make them ill.

2. Boost Your Reputation

When consumers know the food they buy from you is safe, you quickly build trust with them. They trust you to supply high-quality products that protect their health, and they'll appreciate the additional effort.

3. Traceability

If the worst-case scenario happens and an outbreak of food poisoning occurs, the ability to trace the products back through the supply chain lets you identify where things went wrong and whether the mishap affected other foods.

In 2024, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act introduced stricter rules for the food industry to reduce the chances of foodborne diseases. These rules covered preventive controls for human and animal food, produce safety and sanitary transportation.

As part of this act, the FDA's Food Traceability Final Rule requires better record-keeping for higher-risk foods. Checking this box is easy when you choose SQF-certified partners. Even if a food such as coffee isn't particularly high-risk, the ability to trace it back through its supply chain can still be valuable.

4. Consistent Quality Control

Routinely meeting safe food practices is at the core of SQF certification. When you work with an SQF-certified partner, you have assurances that anything they supply you with will fulfill or exceed these standards every time.

5. Compliance

Some industries must meet specific food regulations. Whatever these are, an SQF partner will likely make it easier for you to be fully compliant.

The Business Risks of Unsafe Food

Your business can experience multiple repercussions from serving unsafe food.

• Hurting customers: Eating improperly produced, handled or prepared food can give consumers food poisoning.
• Product recalls: If a product batch is unsafe, it could lead to a product recall to reduce the risk to consumers.
• Fines: You could face financial penalties for knowingly or unknowingly serving unsafe food.
• Lawsuits: If a customer falls ill after eating a meal that came from your business, they could have grounds to bring a case against you.
• Damaged reputation: Unsafe food can damage your reputation through highly publicized lawsuits or social media posts written by unhappy customers.
  The fast-casual chain Chipotle was the focal point of several well-publicized cases involving unsafe food. The U.S. Department of Justice found the company was guilty of at least seven foodborne outbreaks between 2015 and 2018, resulting in more than 1,100 cases where someone suffered from E. coli, Salmonella or norovirus. Chipotle agreed to a $25 million fine to keep their license, which became the largest criminal fine for breaking U.S. food safety laws.

These examples demonstrate why SQF certification is a nonnegotiable for your national brand. Without SQF certification, you're much more likely to serve unsafe food and suffer these repercussions. As a result, SQF certification is a prerequisite for working with many national brands.

How to Find an SQF-Certified Partner

It's easy for a business to claim to be something it's not. While most enterprises operate responsibly and honestly, it's wise to do your due diligence when you take on a new partner.

Searching for the company in the SQF-Certified Site Directory will tell you their certificate number and when their certification expires.

If you find a SQF partner, you should be aware that certification doesn't last forever. Businesses must pass an audit every 12 months to maintain their certification, and the audit must take place within 30 days of their certification's expiration date to ensure that they continue to meet SQF standards even after achieving their initial certification.

Businesses can stay up to date with the most recent standards through audits and recertification.

Your SQF-Certified Coffee Partner

Regardless of what you serve, it must be safe for consumption. Pod Pack recognizes this, so we earned and maintain SQF certification. We ensure our coffee and tea are always of the highest quality through ongoing training and continuous improvement.

Whether you need single-serve coffee pods for your restaurant or coffee co-packing services for your brand, you can expect everything about our products and services to exceed your expectations.

Get in touch with us today to learn how you can partner with a reliable, SQF-certified coffee provider.