AUSTIN, Texas — Vital Farms’ (Nasdaq: VITL) quality assurance manager Robert Clark has received the 2024 Excellence in SQF Practitioner Leadership Award from the Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI), a global program that “works with and on behalf of the entire industry to advance a safer, healthier, and more efficient consumer food supply.” This prestigious award recognizes a single leader for their role promoting food safety and inspiring the next generation of food safety leaders.
“Vital Farms attracts a passionate group of crew members, like Robert, who are continuously challenged to uphold high standards while progressing our purpose to improve the lives of people, animals, and planet through food. Robert’s expertise goes beyond simply understanding quality – he’s helped us build an entire food safety culture and ensured safety standards for each Vital Farms egg that reaches peoples’ tables,” said Russell Diez-Canseco, President & CEO, Vital Farms. “We’re proud of this incredible recognition that celebrates Robert and our entire team’s commitment to raising the standards of food manufacturing.”
In his role, Clark leads a dynamic team of 21 food safety and quality assurance professionals that oversee the safe processing of eggs from the company’s network of over 300 family farms through its award-winning facility, Egg Central Station (ECS), in Springfield, MO. Up to 6 million eggs a day take a journey from the farms to grading, washing, and packing at ECS before they are delivered to grocery shelves and restaurant menus across the country. ECS is one of the many ways Vital Farms continues to build a resilient food system with its industry-leading conservation features including advanced water filtration and bio-retention systems, solar energy panels and LED lighting, zero-waste-to-landfill production, and high safety and quality standards.
ECS is an SQF-certified facility, and the only egg facility globally to have received an SQFI Select Site Certification, indicating that ECS has voluntarily elected to undergo annual unannounced recertification audits by SQFI. ECS recently went through an SQF food safety and quality audit which earned the facility an Excellent rating with a 98% score. The rating is a direct result of Clark’s team’s dedicated food safety and quality efforts.
Learn more about the 2024 SQF Excellence Awards here: https://www.sqfi.com/sqf-professionals/sqf-excellence-awards
ABOUT VITAL FARMS
Vital Farms (Nasdaq: VITL), a Certified B Corporation, offers a range of ethically produced foods nationwide. Started on a single farm in Austin, Texas, in 2007, Vital Farms is now a national consumer brand that works with over 300 family farms and is the leading U.S. brand of pasture-raised eggs by retail dollar sales. Vital Farms’ ethics are exemplified by its focus on the humane treatment of farm animals and sustainable farming practices. In addition, as a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation, Vital Farms prioritizes the long-term benefits of each of its stakeholders, including farmers and suppliers, customers and consumers, communities and the environment, and crew members and stockholders. Vital Farms’ products, including shell eggs, butter, hard-boiled eggs, and liquid whole eggs, are sold in approximately 24,000 stores nationwide. Vital Farms pasture-raised eggs can also be found on menus at hundreds of foodservice operators across the country. For more information, visit https://vitalfarms.com/.
