Protecting consumers by building strong food safety cultures
The Alliance Mentorship Program is a year-long, virtual workshop designed for small and medium-sized food companies to improve their food safety culture through direct support from global brands.
“Small and medium” are defined as a company with annual sales of less than $1 billion USD.
Applications for the class of 2027 will be accepted from September 8 – October 6, 2026
Selected mentees will begin working in January 2027.
The inaugural, 2025-2026 program supported three small companies: Bread Alone Bakery, Lakeside Foods and Lifeline Foods.
In addition to completing the 12-month program, mentees had the opportunity to attend the Alliance in-person planning meeting in Arlington, VA (hosted by Nestlé), presented at the Food Safety Summit in Rosemont, IL, in a virtual webinar for IAFP, and shared their takeaways from the program in a final presentation to Alliance members.
All three companies were granted one year of free Alliance membership following their completion of the program, and will be invited to participate as mentors to the class of 2027.
To learn more about the program, we encourage you to review the Program Overview PDF below.
Applications will be accepted through October 6, 2026. There is no fee to apply.
For questions regarding the program, please contact Alliance Deputy Director Lily Yasuda at: lyasuda@stopfoodborneillness.org.
