With continuous inspiration from the memory of his late father, Adam Brock of the Food Safety Alliance is redefining what it means to eat — and drink! — clean.
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The term ‘eating clean’ is a trendy type of diet known throughout the health and fitness industry. It involves eating only certain kinds of food, ones that are considered “clean”; foods that include all the other diet buzz words like organic, antibiotic and hormone-free, GMO-free, etcetera. Oh, and vegetables. Lots and lots of vegetables.
Adam Brock of the Food Safety Alliance in London, Ontario, knows that eating clean actually means something entirely different. It’s the knowledge that the products leaving a food production company aren’t laden with bacteria that could make many people very sick; that you actually could eat off of the food production equipment after it’s been cleaned (even though it’s not exactly recommended); and that a strong, trusting relationship between client and company is the foundation needed to arrive at that level of cleanliness.
SUBHEAD: A HISTORY OF CLEAN
Although the Food Safety Alliance began in 2015, President Adam Brock was born and raised in the food industry. “My dad was in the food industry for his entire life,” says Adam. “He and my mom met working at the ice cream plant in London when they were 16 years old.”
Adam was able to grow up watching his father progress through an industry that he truly loved. “In the 1970s, my dad took a job as a national sales manager with what is now one of my competitors. Then, in the 1990s, he hopped ship to my other competitor. In the late 90s, there was a big merger and dad ended up losing his job. So, he went to the US and ran a chemical company in Philadelphia until 2002. At that time, he and my mom came back to Canada; they were sick of travelling back and forth. When he came back, dad started a chemical company with one of my uncles.”
At that time, Adam was in his early 20s and was working at a local car dealership as the service manager, and he wasn’t exactly ecstatic about it. Having felt like he had plateaued in his career — never a great feeling in your 20s, or at any age! — Adam approached his dad with an idea. “I said to him that I wanted to learn something new, that I wanted to do what he did. I quit my job at the dealership and took a job at an oil change shop working Wednesday through Saturday and I worked for my dad for minimum wage Monday and Tuesday. I did that for about three years until I got up to speed in the industry.”
Getting up to speed in the industry isn’t as easy as heading to school for a degree in chemistry. Luckily for Adam, he was able to learn by doing — and have a little fun on the way. “There isn’t really any kind of school [you can attend] to learn to do what I do. I was lucky to learn it all from my dad, who was recognized as one of the top guys in North America. I learned hands-on from one of the best. Dad would always take me out of school and take me to work with him. We’d load up our fishing rods in the car and head out. Food plants, mostly, are in rural areas and off the beaten path. So we’d go do a sales call with a customer then head to the local creek and do some fishing!”
As we all know, life tends to take a sharp left turn just as you’re comfortably cruising along in the opposite direction. Adam’s experience is no exception. “My dad and my uncle owned that [chemical] business; I worked for them and had no ownership. My dad passed away in July of 2015, and the will wasn’t quite up to date. Things did not end well. So the day after my dad died, I quit my job and decided to start my own business.”
SUBHEAD: FREE AND CLEAN
As many businesses do, the Food Safety Alliance started in 2015 from almost nothing. But with the right management and growth opportunities, it has begun to flourish and compete well against companies that are exponentially larger — in size and budget. “After my dad died, I was pretty much bankrupt. So, I started my own business and we’ve been growing ever since!” says Adam.
As it turns out, Adam is growing his business as fast as he can, and is currently looking to hire sales staff all across the country. But because the industry is so tightly regulated, “…you can’t just get someone off the street to sell this stuff for you.”
So, what is “this stuff,” exactly? Adam has an easy explanation for what’s involved in his business.
“I always say my business is beer, steak and chicken wings!” he laughs. “But essentially, we’re a chemical company. We sell the chemicals to clean food plants and beverage plants — mostly breweries — after they’re done production. We’re very big in the beef and poultry industries and in the craft brewing industry.” Adam says that most people have never heard of someone who does what he does, that it’s a huge business that people don’t even realize exists, yet it’s an incredibly necessary link in the food supply industry chain.
The Food Safety Alliance (FSA) is responsible for the food and beverage hygiene of their clients, selling all types of chemicals required 24 hours a day to food production companies. FSA sells products that are both used during production to combat pathogens that can make people sick, and chemicals and sanitizers that clean the equipment post-production. “The truth is, the economy doesn’t affect food consumption,” says Adam. “Everybody still eats. Any company that produces food has to clean every single night, and regulations are getting tighter. That means they have to do a better job which means we have to do a better job.”
In an industry such as this, trust is a huge factor in gaining — and keeping — loyal customers. Adam understands this, and makes it work to the benefit of his clients. “If I was starting with a new company, I would come in and observe for a few days to see what their current practices are. Then I would make recommendations based on what I observed — and then, of course, I try to sell my product,” he laughs. As a small business, Adam has very stiff, very large competition; he uses the word “conglomerates” to describe the other companies in this very niche industry. But as anyone knows, bigger isn’t synonymous with better. “There are a few things that differentiate us from our competitors,” Adam says. “We are a Canadian-owned company. We blend everything locally in Guelph. All our products are proprietary blends to us, meaning I don’t buy products from other chemical companies and resell them as my own. I have a development chemist on staff and a microbiologist on staff; all of our products are all our own formulas. By blending locally, I can maneuver around a client’s needs and provide them with a truly customized product.”
SUBHEAD: CLEAN FOOD FRIENDSHIPS
To build a successful business, especially among the shadows of very large competitors, takes courage and risk — but it also takes trust. How do you get that trust? You prove yourself. “I approach the industry with the customer’s needs in mind as opposed to my own. It’s a little harder to sell at the start because everyone has the same sales pitch: my products are better, my service is better, etcetera. Once you prove what you’re capable of, it leads to good relationships which is huge because business is all about relationships.”
The FSA products speak for themselves. But just in case, Adam has a rather unorthodox way to prove the reliability of his company and his products right from the start. “What we do is provide the chemicals to the customer for 30 days. If they’re unhappy about anything, we don’t charge them. If they’re happy, then we charge them and they become our customer. I’ve never had a customer run a trial and not switch. Ever.”
Adam’s experience in the industry led him to another great idea that allows him to prove his products and build strength in his relationships with clients, both new and existing. “Recently, we brought in technology called ATP. It’s a swab machine that gives you a digital read-out within seconds, measuring how clean the equipment is after it’s been cleaned. Lots of food companies use ATP now as their own pre-operation check every morning before they start up. But there are lots of companies that can’t afford that machine. So, I decided to bring it in and offer it as a free service as long as you’re our customer. I use it as a sales tool but I also use it as a verification tool on our cleaning programs once we get started. It’s been a really great tool for us.”
In a world where product recalls — food or otherwise — crop up every day, Adam knows that his clients are safe while under the supervision and care of the Food Safety Alliance. “I’ve never had a customer have a recall while under the care of my company. Sometimes, you can’t help recalls. Some companies are contracting out their cleaning because it’s cheaper. The problem is, if they don’t do a good job cleaning, it’s the producer’s name in the newspaper, not the cleaning company. That’s where the relationship comes in and the trust is built up. When you can continuously prove good micro results and good swab results, people grow more comfortable with you.”
SUBHEAD: MORE THAN CLEAN
Helping his clients produce food that is clean and safe for Canadians is certainly Adam’s goal with the Food Safety Alliance. But it’s also much more than that, thanks to his team. “I called my company Food Safety Alliance because I wanted to be more than a chemical company. Our commodity is trading chemicals for dollars, but all our value is in our knowledge.”
Like his dad, Adam has carried on working with family. His wife is the office administrator and his best friend, Dave Gibson, is the equipment manager responsible for “designing, building and repairing all the chemical dilution and distribution systems.” Obviously, handling and blending chemicals can be a very risky business. Adam happens to have two of the best scientists in the industry working with him to minimize that risk. “Wayne Sprung is our microbiologist. He worked with my dad and came with me when I started my company. He was the president of the Poultry Council of Canada. He’s very up-to-date with Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulations and very involved in the government aspect of the business. Our development chemist is Nathan Schiff. He has worked for every major chemical company, and he’s probably one of the top development chemists in the industry.”
Family has always inspired Adam to continue growing his company. “My inspiration is my family roots. My parents met in the food industry and I grew up in it. I feel I’ve been given an education that most people don’t have, and it’s my duty to share it.”
Adam truly loves what he does for a living, and it’s evident from the way he speaks about the intricacies of creating a custom product for each of his clients. Although he would love to find another salesperson — or a few more — other than himself to help spur more growth, Adam says he is enjoying the process of developing an already thriving company. “The thing I love most is the people. I get to consistently meet new people. I’m a very social person. I really enjoy being a problem solver. I love the aspect of someone calling us up with a major problem and we’re able to fix it for them quickly and efficiently. That’s probably what I enjoy most.”
For Adam Brock and the Food Safety Alliance, clean eating is all about having a passion for what you do and forging strong relationships with the people around you — but the beer, steak and chicken wings are okay too.
Written by Jess Campbell