Madison, WI — The necessity of food safety in retail dairy, deli, and bakery departments is increasingly apparent every day. For that reason, the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association™ (IDDBA) Food Safety Certification Reimbursement Program reimburses a portion of expenses to IDDBA-member retailer companies that certify dairy, deli, and bakery department-level managers and associates in food safety.
In FY 2010-11, the program paid out $11,497 to retailers who certified a total of 408 managers and associates. Retailers have the opportunity to apply for reimbursement six times a year, up to a maximum of $2,000.
Since the program began in July 2003, retailers have received reimbursement totaling $212,733 for certifying 5,584 managers and associates.
Members have this to say about the FSCRP:
IDDBA has been one our key partners in helping us to develop a culture of food safety at A&P. This program allows us to expand our training budget resulting in an increased number of associates becoming food safety professionals. Food safety, sanitation and freshness are good for business. IDDBA's food safety training reimbursement program helps us achieve these important goals because our customers want it, the law demands it, and it makes good business sense. – Pat Brown, Director of Food Safety, A&P
We value our relationship with IDDBA and appreciate their commitment and support of Food Safety education through their reimbursement program. With the monetary help from the IDDBA reimbursement program, we have been able to expand our food safety certification training to additional levels of our company… our company regards excellent food safety practices as one the most important services we can offer our customers.– Barb Vogel, Manager POS Training & Procedures, Schnuck Markets
Dierbergs has participated in the IDDBA FSCRP program for the last six years. We provide in-house ServSafe® instruction, books, and tests to our associates, and the reimbursements, now totaling thousands of dollars, have helped defray the cost. Training programs usually cost the company money, but the reimbursement program brings money in! The online registration now makes it even easier to apply. -Barbara McIntyre, Training Assistant, Dierbergs Markets
About IDDBA: IDDBA is a nonprofit membership organization serving the dairy, deli, bakery, cheese, and supermarket foodservice industries. Member companies enjoy many benefits and services, including the annual seminar and expo, leading-edge research, training programs, management tools, and an annual trends report. For more information, contact IDDBA at 608.310.5000 or visit our Web site, www.iddba.org.
Source: International Dairy·Deli·Bakery Association