International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) has announced a reorganization to enhance and amplify its goals in the areas of produce and food safety regulations.
Under the new structure, Paul Lewis, IFPA’s regulatory and compliance expert, will join the government relations team and report to Chief Global Policy Officer Alexis Taylor. Other members of the food safety team, including Angie Fraser, VP of food safety and quality; Jorge Quintanilla, food safety manager; and Alison Saltzmann, food safety support coordinator, will join the science and technology (SciTech) team under Max Teplitski.
“Food safety is foundational to our industry’s success,” Teplitski said. “Aligning our experts across our advocacy and science teams will help us deliver on the strategic imperatives to future proof our industry, garner worldwide influence and create more valuable and personalized touchpoints and resources for our members.
“Food safety is a shared responsibility across every role and every step of the supply chain and it’s a central part to all of the work the SciTech team does, including the ongoing work in packaging, FSMA 204 readiness, regenerative agriculture and the ‘Supply Chain of the Future’ initiative.”
Taylor drives the association’s global public policy agenda through the IFPA’s government relations team. Prior to joining the organization in January, she served as the under secretary of trade and foreign agricultural affairs (TFAA) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), where she oversaw the U.S. Codex Alimentarius office. Codex Alimentarius is the international food safety standard-setting body.
Teplitski is the chief science officer at IFPA, overseeing supply chain, packaging, sustainability, innovation and data portfolios. Prior to joining IFPA’s predecessor organization, Teplitski oversaw USDA’s $150 million investment into food safety and nutrition research and capacity programs at USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
An author of more than 100 scientific studies on food safety and ecosystem health, he was a professor at the University of Florida and a fellow at the Smithsonian Institution. He has received national and international awards.
The SciTech team also includes the portfolios for the supply chain, agriculture technology, sustainability and the global intelligence team, which delivers IFPA’s proprietary research and analysis. This team also serves as advisors to the organization’s government relations team.
“While we’ve always worked across our teams effectively, this alignment allows us to more meaningfully commit government advocacy resources to food safety on the industry’s behalf in D.C. and in priority global regions,” Taylor said.
“There are growing pressures on how, where, how much and when we grow and deliver fruits and vegetables across the world. This reorganization will help us to discover and advocate for the most powerful solutions and strategies to ensuring our industry is positioned to not only address these growing challenges but find the opportunities in them as well.”
While the reorganization goes into effect immediately, it won’t result in any changes to work planned for 2025 or any volunteer leadership activities.
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