Strategic consulting firm launched to help produce supply chain with FSMA 204 traceability compliance

Traceability solutions provider iFoodDS has announced the launch of a consulting arm, New Era Partners, to advise firms on achieving operational compliance with the FSMA 204 mandate.

The FSMA 204 Food Traceability Rule, recently published by the FDA, establishes new traceability record-keeping requirements for firms that manufacture, process, pack or hold certain foods on the Food Traceability List, according to a news release.

Andrew Kennedy, a former FDA traceability expert who helped develop FSMA 204, and Matt Regusci, co-founder of Azzule/PrimusGFS, will co-lead New Era Partners, the release said.

“FSMA 204 is complex, especially for grocers, foodservice operators, and processors,” Kennedy, principal traceability adviser at New Era Partners, said in the release. “With our deep understanding of the rule and the supply chain, New Era Partners can quickly help enterprises understand the rule’s impact on their operations and objectively identify paths to compliance. Progressive enterprises that start planning now will protect their brand and gain a competitive advantage.”

Services available include:

• Executive briefings for enterprise operations, IT and legal executives on the rule and its effects.
• Supply chain traceability x-ray — analysis of an enterprise’s current compliance status and visualization of gaps across their supply chain, enabling accurate risk assessment and compliance effort scope.

Kennedy, a former co-leader of the Food and Drug Administration’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety, will lead advisory services.

Before the FDA, Kennedy served as the interim director of IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center and co-founded FoodLogiQ. He co-led the development of numerous food traceability standards and best practices, according to the release.

Regusci, an entrepreneur in the testing, inspection and compliance (TIC) marketplace, will lead compliance services, according to the release.

Over the past decade, Regusci co-founded Azzule/Primus GFS, co-owned WQS and co-founded TrainToComply.

“The industry is making progress on the promise of traceability, but organizations across the supply chain need guidance on how FSMA 204 impacts their unique operations and how they can leverage traceability to improve their business practices,” Robert Whitaker, founder of Whitaker Consulting, said in the release.

“Andrew Kennedy and Matt Regusci’s expertise is unmatched in the industry and will be of great value to enterprises needing a strategy to meet the FSMA 204 mandate and move their businesses forward,” he said in the release.