Bridging the Gap: Making Food Safety More Accessible for SMEs

Food safety is essential to a strong food system, but for many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), knowing what needs to be done is only the beginning.

Businesses need practical training, resources, and tools that can help them understand food safety requirements and incorporate them into their daily operations. This need is particularly important in a global food system, where businesses must navigate increasingly complex supply chains, markets, and regulatory environments.

At Food Enterprise Solutions (FES), our work focuses on helping businesses turn food safety knowledge into practical action. Through programs such as Business Drivers for Food Safety (BD4FS), the Pre-HACCP Badge, and our work toward a new digital food safety platform, FES is continuing to develop approaches that help SMEs build food safety capacity and strengthen their operations.

Turning Food Safety Knowledge into Action

A strong food safety system is built through everyday practices.

For a business, that can mean establishing standard operating procedures, strengthening employee hygiene, monitoring temperatures, improving sanitation, maintaining accurate records, or implementing prerequisite programs that support a broader food safety system.

But putting these practices in place can be challenging, particularly for SMEs that may have limited access to specialized training, technical expertise, or other resources.

FES has seen firsthand the difference that practical, business-focused support can make.

Through BD4FS, FES engaged more than 6,000 SMEs across Ethiopia, Nepal, and Senegal over three years. The program helped businesses strengthen food safety practices while demonstrating how improvements in food safety can also support broader business objectives.

Follow-up findings showed businesses applying what they learned in tangible ways, including developing standard operating procedures, strengthening hygiene controls, monitoring temperatures, improving documentation, and adopting food safety procedures aligned with HACCP principles.

These results highlight an important lesson: building food safety capacity is not simply about providing information. It is about giving businesses the tools and support to put that information into practice.

Supporting Businesses at Different Stages

Not every business begins its food safety journey from the same place.

Some businesses may be establishing basic food safety practices, while others may have more developed systems and be working toward additional certifications or market requirements.

FES's approach recognizes that businesses need support that reflects where they are today and helps them determine where they need to go next.

The Pre-HACCP Badge is one example of this approach. Rather than treating food safety improvement as a single destination, it provides a way for businesses to demonstrate progress while strengthening the foundational practices that support a strong food safety system.

This step-by-step approach can make food safety improvements more achievable for SMEs and help businesses build their capabilities over time.

Expanding Access Through Digital Solutions

As FES continues to work with businesses in different markets, technology presents an opportunity to extend food safety resources beyond traditional training and technical assistance.

FES is working closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop an affordable, accessible digital food safety platform for SMEs worldwide.

The platform is designed to help businesses assess their existing food safety protocols, access online training for prerequisite programs, maintain records, and find relevant local policy information based on global food safety standards.

By bringing these resources together in one mobile-friendly platform, the initiative aims to help businesses better understand their current food safety capabilities, identify areas for improvement, and take practical steps toward stronger food safety systems. It also has the potential to help businesses work toward verification and certification readiness as they continue developing their practices.

This approach builds on FES's experience working directly with SMEs: food safety resources are most effective when they are practical and designed around the realities businesses face.

Technology as a Tool for Continuous Improvement

Technology can complement the expertise of food safety professionals and the value of hands-on technical assistance by helping businesses incorporate food safety into their ongoing operations.

Food safety requires continued attention as businesses grow, and their operations evolve. Changes in procedures, staffing, regulations, and market requirements can all create new challenges. Digital solutions can help businesses stay informed, adapt their practices, and maintain strong food safety programs over time.

For SMEs, this combination of technical expertise and digital support can make it easier to build food safety practices into everyday business operations rather than treating them as a one-time requirement.

Building Capacity Across a Global Food System

The need for effective food safety resources extends across borders and throughout the global food system.

Businesses around the world play a role in the food supply chain, from producers and processors to manufacturers, exporters, importers, and retailers. Strengthening food safety requires building capacity across the entire system.

FES's international experience has shown that while businesses may operate in very different environments, many face similar challenges: understanding requirements, developing practical procedures, training employees, maintaining records, and finding the resources needed to continually improve.

Creating tools that address these challenges can help businesses build capacity at scale.

The development of FES's digital food safety platform represents an opportunity to build on years of capacity-building experience and bring practical food safety resources to a broader community of businesses.

Looking Ahead

Strong food safety systems depend on more than standards. They depend on people and businesses having the knowledge, resources, and tools to put those standards into practice.

From BD4FS and the Pre-HACCP Badge to the development of a global digital food safety platform, FES is focused on finding practical ways to help businesses build their food safety capacity and navigate the path toward stronger systems.

As food systems become more interconnected, providing SMEs with the right knowledge and tools can help them strengthen their operations, meet market expectations, and contribute to safer food systems around the world.

By making food safety knowledge and practical tools more accessible, FES is helping create opportunities for businesses around the world to strengthen their systems, build capacity, and contribute to safer, more resilient food systems.

For more information, visit us at www.foodsolutions.global or contact us at info@foodsolutions.global