2024 Star Women in Grocery Award Winner Shannon Scanga (Q&A)
Shannon Scanga
Senior Manager, Quality Assurance & Food Safety
Longo’s
How did you get your start in the grocery CPG/business?
Prior to joining Longo’s, I worked in food processing and packaging facilities for 16 years with various food commodities. My role has always been related to food safety and people safety, implementing and managing safety programs, as well as achieving and maintaining multiple certifications.
These years spent in manufacturing has provided me with a wealth of knowledge on food processing, supply chain, packaging and equipment. Within these roles, I worked alongside many retailers for their private-label products. I quite enjoyed the collaborations between the various retail partners and was determined to pursue a career in food safety and quality assurance for grocery retail.
An opportunity came up for a position at Longo’s as a quality assurance manager for their fresh production manufacturing and I jumped at the chance. My best career move to date. I’ve been able to grow, develop and carve out my own path and I am loving the journey that I’m on!
What intrigues you about the grocery/CPG business?
This industry is extremely fast-paced and always evolving. I work best in this type of environment. There are times where you may have to pivot in multiple directions from product recalls, to regulatory updates/compliance, to audits/inspections, not to mention jumping in to support with store, manufacturing and warehouse operations. Being able to support the business in so many ways, as well as helping to influence the industry to further enhance food safety, is so exciting.
What keeps you motivated at work?
Longo’s creates a great space for growth and development to hone your skill sets and learn new ones. They have done a terrific job in creating a family culture, which keeps me motivated as they align with my own personal family values. Working with a team that shares the same values and goals, and achieving those targets together, is rewarding and drives me and my team towards continued success.
What do you like most about your job?
As my colleagues can attest, there is never a dull moment in the world of food safety and retail. Part of my role is to work alongside small and local vendors to ensure their food safety program meets our requirements and provide guidance where needed. Seeing positive guest experiences from products made by these vendors is very fulfilling knowing we have made an impact on their success and a great eating experience for our guests.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced in your career?
A recent, successful (yet challenging) project was working on label legislations for regulations that were coming into effect and halfway through this new initiative it was brought to our attention that a high-priority project was to be quickly added in. We were required to update an entire facility’s labels as they moved from a basic in-house label where certain nutritional and ingredient exemptions were in place, to a new third-party format to include full labelling requirements. The team was on very tight timelines to complete this section of the project and we did not have resources budgeted for it.
How did you overcome it?
Once our new business case was approved to extend our resources used for the label legislation project, we quickly pivoted over to this part of the project. We had check points twice a week at the onset to identify and remove any roadblocks. It was all hands-on deck for my team, including some long hours and weekends, but we were able to persevere and meet the requirements. The teams understood the additional pressures this project created; however, everyone was incredibly supportive in ensuring we were given the space to do the work within those timelines.
What career advice would you give your younger self?
Keep trusting your intuition and stand your moral ground. You may not get it right the first time around, but you’ll learn to do better. Pave the path that you want to go in. It will certainly take a lot of work to get there, but eventually you will.
What is the best career advice you have ever received?
Be comfortable with being uncomfortable and don’t be afraid to ask those challenging questions. I have a very curious mind and being part of the risk team here at Longo’s, you need to be able to assess each scenario from all angles. Reminding ourselves of this helps me and my team become more resilient and better prepared for the next challenge that comes our way.
Click here for the full list of 2024 Star Women in Grocery award winners.