On April 8, 2019 Lake Trucking was awarded the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification, Edition 8.1 by the Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI), a globally trusted, recognized, and accepted food safety and quality program. On March 26, 2020 Lake Trucking the SQFI renewed our certification for another year after a rigorous inspection and audit process.
SQF stands for Safe Quality Food. It is a Food Safety Management program created and managed by the SQF Institute that is used to manage food safety risks. Once implemented, the program is audited and certified annually by a third-party certification body.
SQF Certification is based on government and industry food safety requirements. Businesses must have the tools and documentation necessary to easily demonstrate that they have taken steps to increase food safety. SQF Certification allows food safety and quality control systems to be verified and validated throughout the foodservice chain. There are different levels of SQF Certification based on the size of the business and the risk-level of the food you process, handle or transport. Being SQF Certified means you believe strongly in providing quality products for consumers, and you remain compliant with food safety standards set forth by the government and your industry.
This food safety and quality certification helps food producers assure their buyers that food products have been grown, processed, prepared, handled and transported according to the highest possible global food safety standards. It can immediately improve your standing in the eyes of new partners and prospects.
For everyone at Lake Trucking, this achievement is a great validation of our hard work and our team’s commitment to quality operations. For you, it means increased protection in the event of recalls, improved operational efficiencies in our work together, managed risks, and peace of mind with certified due diligence.
Lake Trucking and its temperature-controlled facility received the SQF Certification. There are a variety of requirements that our facility had to meet to achieve certification associated with safety and quality, as well as a commitment to continuous improvement.
The process can take between one and two years and at a significant investment in capital improvements and additional trained personnel. We believe the practices it checks for and encourages are a smart way to assure food and perishable safety hazards are in place when you are shipping your products.
A core component of the certification is something that’s mission critical to our mutual companies for the effective management of food safety. The SQF Certification means that Lake Trucking has demonstrable commitment and processes in place to create, monitor, and manage a safe environment for the handling and transportation of highly perishable foods. Continued training is another core value of our company, which breads a culture of food safety from everyone that touches your product
SQFI provides a global, consistent certification process that is one of the most trusted in the world for food safety. The certification is important for every partner in the food supply chain and we like that the governing body requires annual reviews to ensure that we are compliant and always follow best practices.
At Lake Trucking the commitment to food safety starts from top with the owners Margie and Ted Brozanski. They also own and operate Stokes Fish Company which is also SQF Certified. In 2018 they made a commitment to take both companies SQF. Today a team of people help manage the food safety program including two full time SQF Practitioners.
Achieving SQF Certification require that we develop processes and business improvements that allow us to proactively identify and manage threats to the products we store and transport for our customers. At our facility, these requirements apply to all of our operations, including receiving, processing, storing and outbound transportation designed to save you money and deliver your product.
This food safety and quality certification helps food producers assure their buyers that food products have been grown, processed, prepared, handled and transported according to the highest possible global food safety standards. It can immediately improve your standing in the eyes of new partners and prospects.
Our Mission Statement
Pairing SQF certification with the ability to fulfill larger, higher frequency orders can also protect your bottom line by giving you access to a larger market. Not only will you be able to address order demands, but you’ll meet the increasing demand for supplier certifications coming from partners and buyers. Having a certified partner like Lake Trucking ensures that your operations can support the demands of the larger retailers and chains. Since becoming SQF Lake has been awarded several large contracts with several fortune 100 companies
We see certifications like SQF as a smart way to ensure we stay on top of food safety regulations and requirements. It is in concert with the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), designed to improve the over all food supply chain.
At the end of the day, SQF certification is a demonstration of our commitment to food safety, quality, legality, and support for all of our partners. Ted Brozanski, CEO of Lake Trucking and Stokes Fish Company says “SQF Certification speaks to our team’s effort to meet and exceed that which is expected of them as logistics professionals and processors of highly perishable products. It’s a recognition of our total commitment and cultural change to lead through excellence and to be the best in our respective industries”, and we commend our team for a job well done”.
"SQF Certification speaks to our team's effort to meet and exceed that which is expected of them as logistics professionals and processors of highly perishable products. It's a recognition of our total commitment and cultural change to lead through excellence and to be the best in our respective industries", and we commend our team for a job well done".
- Ted Brozanski
Today’s consumers have increasingly complex demands for food management and safety. Those concerns are readily visible in the requirements from all- of the shippers, retailers, and wholesalers we service. At Lake Trucking food safety is in our DNA. Give your company the best chance to exceed expectations, regulations and requirements by partnering with Lake Trucking Company, an SQF Certified logistics company.
