Investing in People First: How Food Safety Starts with Education

By Deadra Holloway, Director of Food Safety, DNO Produce

At DNO Produce, we often say our greatest asset isn’t our equipment or facilities—it’s our people. As a K-12 fresh cut and wholesale distributor serving 16 states, we know food safety starts on the floor, with the individuals who wash, cut, pack, and ship our produce every day. That’s why our food safety program is rooted in one core strategy: education.

Whether someone’s on day one or year ten, we believe in building a strong foundation so every employee—from sales and warehouse to sanitation and quality assurance—has the tools, passion, and confidence to make the right call. We begin by instilling our values in the first hour. Every team member is onboarded with a trilingual orientation, in-house training videos, and a walk-through of our facility led by our food safety team. They are then introduced to an experienced company ambassador to continue their training throughout the first month.

Our passion for education doesn’t stop at onboarding.

Each employee receives deep dives into topics every month and gets the opportunity to see the tools in action during hands-on workshops. We run third-shift sanitation courses, internal leadership classes, and regular QA refreshers. We’ve even filmed our own GMP training videos, featuring team members from every department and our company president, Alex DiNovo, to make the message hit home. (It’s being nominated for an Oscar 😉) Internal efforts are supported by certification courses, seminars, and conferences. We believe in clarity, consistency, and culture.

But training is only effective if it’s supported by engagement. We encourage our employees to see the impact of their work beyond the facility walls—whether that’s volunteering at a local food bank or helping deliver produce to a school nutrition site. Many of our team members are parents themselves. When they see our product feeding their own children at school, food safety becomes more than a checklist—it becomes personal.

Recognizing effort and cheering it on goes a long way towards the mission of total buy-in. Brocc’ Stars are celebrated internally and externally. Social media posts featuring employees are a key part of our presence. We love that they can show their friends and family the work they’re doing and how proud they are of it. Our 250-ish employees become 250-ish customer advocates because they understand the impact their actions have on people.

That same spirit of openness applies to our customer relationships. We make it easy for partners to contact us with questions or concerns and are committed to proactive communication about best practices for produce handling. Through nutrition shows, school visits, and community partnerships, we work hard to demystify produce safety and create trust.

I believe the industry has a collective responsibility to do more in this space. For every headline about an outbreak, there are millions of safe, healthy servings of fruits and vegetables that go unrecognized. Recalls and outbreaks cannot be the only way fresh produce makes the headlines. We can’t let fear shape public perception—we need to meet it with facts, transparency, and shared education. Regulatory bodies, industry leaders, and distributors like us all have a role to play in lifting the veil.

Food safety is a journey, not a destination. And if we want to build a safer, healthier, and more informed future, we have to start with the people who make it all possible.