Dunbia employs over 5200 people in the UK and is a division of Dawn Meats. They have 12 processing facilities in the UK which export meat products to over 50 countries globally.

Dunbia’s food safety culture journey started in 2015. Food safety was already a cornerstone of the business and this was demonstrated by successful sites that scored highly in certification audits and had great customer feedback. Despite this, the company was really aware of the dangers of complacency, therefore instigated a food safety strategy rebrand. This needed to include the concept of an “industry-leading food safety culture”, be tangible and accessible for all colleagues. 

Following the development of this new strategy, the inception of Food Safety Week was born in 2016 with its inaugural event happening in 2017. There was real business appetite for this to be not just a week of activities but a real focal point for culture change in the business. The week itself is guided by the Food Safety and Quality leadership team but owned by individual site Technical and Quality teams and all colleagues have the opportunity to take part – even if this means time away from production lines to attend! 

Each site had a stand for one week with the same base information tailored to each site. This stand was the main focal point for the week and was decorated and manned by the site Technical and Quality teams. 

Each year a member of the Senior Management team is responsible for choosing a Food Safety Week theme; there is a daily theme with 2-3 key messages chose for each theme in order to not overwhelm. Past themes have included; hand washing, temperature control, personal protective equipment (PPE), traceability, pest control and foreign body control. 

Dunbia’s aimed to bring fun to usually dry subjects! Examples of activities offered during past Food Safety Weeks:

  • UV hand washing challenge

  • Senior management engagement 

  • Match the allergen to the product

  • Foreign body sorting

  • Loading fridges correctly 

  • PPE dressing games

  • Pledge boards

  • Selfie frames

  • Mass training events

  • Talking head videos from colleagues around their impact on food safety

  • Talks from external experts e.g., customers, retailers, suppliers, Food Standards Agency (FSA), Food Safety Authority Ireland (FSAI), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

In addition to these activities the company also provides information on posters and leaflets and each day had quizzes, word searches, challenges and prize draws. In order to make this accessible for all staff and the company committed to translating all of this information into eight different languages to cater for a diverse work force. 

Food Safety Week is an important part of Dunbia’s food safety culture development and a lot of time and effort go into making this an engaging and thought provoking annual event, however it is only one part of the overall strategy.

Reference: Campden BRI (2022), Culture Excellence 8th Annual Seminar