It gets tighter at the top, so that's where it expands.

You know, I, I would just say, you know, this is where relationships with your, you know, your suppliers, right, your vendors really, um, play an important role.

Um, and, you know, really understanding, um, their business model to some degree, um, and how they, uh, how they vet the people they're getting their products from is, is really, is really important.

Um, you know, because the likelihood of, you know, a chef knowing, you know, that having a, a clear line of sight of, of where all of their products are coming from all the way back to the farm, um, I think realistically that that is, that is a really challenging, um, almost, like, impossible, you know, thing to, to, to, to actually be able to incorporate into, into, into most businesses today.

Um, but the better that you understand the organization you're buying your products through, right? And that's where what gets thrown around, like approved supplier lists a- and, you know, vendors and things like that, um, really understanding, you know, how that organization operates, how it works, how do they evaluate where they're picki- where they're, they're buying their, their produce from, um, a- a- and things like that, is really in, in your best interest, um, to have a clear understanding of what that is.

And, you know, and then that's, that's- should be able to provide you with a level of, of, of, to some degree, trust on when things do begin to, to happen, like this, this situation we're in now, whether it's lettuce, peppers, you know, or, or imported meat or, or, or what have you, then you, you know that, you know, they're going to be reaching out to you proactively to say, "Hey, listen, you know, we're, we're, we're..." Whether it's switch, switching a provider, um, because of, uh, you know, this problem or concern, or your products aren't involved in this and, you know, they are not involved in this recall, they are not, and here is how we know that, um, you know, from the best of their ability to provide that information.

I, I think it's really important for people to understand the value in, in having a good relationship with their, with their suppliers.

All right, so if you guys can, if you guys can actually change some stuff about how produce is grown or verified, inspected, et cetera, in order to prevent the next outbreak, what would they be?

Eric, would you like to add to that?

Yeah, I think it depends on the client, of course.

You're going to check different things for a furniture store than you will for an auto dealer, for example.

So You need to have a resource.

Of course, OK, I'm going to plug it to local broadcast sales is set up precisely for this.

But even if you don't have local broadcast sales, you need to have a resource that you can go to in order to be kept up to speed on what's going on in your clients industries.

You don't have the option.

Eric, how about you?

Yeah.

Uh, it's great academic institutions.

It's the can-do, um, spirit.

It's the relentless pursuit, uh, of solutions.

It's a powerful network of organizations like where I office, BioLabs, Pegasus Park, other visionaries and, and, and funders like Lyda Hill Foundation, and many others who've really set the foundation.

So me having an opportunity to be at this, a seat, having a seat at the table is really looking at those key components, and how do I, how do I articulate a value proposition, a narrative that explains the best of who we are, and then communicate that to broader audiences? You mentioned, uh, Boston, uh, earlier, and, and I, I, I must correct, we're not necessarily chasing Boston.

Boston's got about a 20-year head start.

Yeah.

Okay, so when a producer uses Secure Cattle, what should they expect?

So what they can expect is a calming effect on those cattle.

For instance, it reduces those bawling, those stress activities around weaning.

They'll be more sedate, less reactive.

Cattle will just show fewer signs of stress.

That actually puts them in a better state to respond to vaccines, to-

How hard is it to use?

Yeah, this is an extremely easy product to use.

Like it, you know, if it's, uh, a few grand here or a few grand more or less, whatever, whatever, when you're talking about just- One week's worth of your cooler inventory, you're ahead of the game

There are, um, you know, like I, I put this little, like, article together about, um, how, you know, these systems, these, um, you know, automated temperature monitoring systems, you can actually use them, um, for, like, marge- large organizations, large multi-site, um, large multi-site locations, um, that, that have recall insurance and foodborne illness insurance.

I don't know how w- I don't know how frequently, um, like an individual restaurateur would have that.

Um, but built into those policies oftentimes, um, are funds to actually, that could actually pay for the investment into these systems.

Um, but you've gotta do a little bit of homework, right, in figuring out what, what your policy dictates, um, what kind of, uh, what kind of, uh, you know, uh, risk control offset, like, plans and programs that, that qualify within it, and then what do you need to have to, to, to show your carrier, um, and the adjuster, like, what you're doing.

Um, and they're happy to help you because the money's there.

Um, but you gotta have a pretty big policy, so I don't know how...

It's doing all these different things.

Before we get into where the idea for this potential electronic night came from and how it's being received, give us a little bit of background to yourself in terms of your love of music and promoting events.

Sure, yeah.

Well, I'm a DJ, producer, promoter from the Ennis area.

I play electronic music.

I've been doing it for many years.

I suppose 90% of any gigs I play are outside of Clare.

So, you know, Galway, Limerick, Dublin, Cork and so on.

What inspired you to start this conversation now? Do you feel you'd been thinking about this for quite some time and it was a case of now or never?

And then, you know, it's, it's just one more thing that we don't have to rely on, that it's, it's, it's an actual number, it's an actual data.

So first and foremost, right, the, the degradative aspect of food is re- that is an absolute reality.

Whether it's, Carl, as you had indicated, like arugula, the minute it's harvested, it, it is degrading.

That's just the nature of nature.

Chef Thomas, you obviously completely understand and comprehend the value of temperature control, right? And the importance of it all the way through supply chain, and most imp- and importantly, in your, in a, in a restaurant or in, in an establishment.

The refrigeration component, it delays the degradation of that product.

You're buying these high-value items, y- you need to maximize, you know, th- their value by optimizing your, you, you know, your food costs and, a- and everything.

Correct.

But you really have to wonder who's in charge of the restaurant.

That's a, a unique e- example.

There are indicators, if you will, of how well an establishment is run.

Like you were indicating, right? There was a little bit of debris or s- or something inside the foyer that, that enters in, into an establishment.

When-You sort of, if we pivot a little bit from, you know, front of the house to the, to the back of the house, my- what I have always done, you know, throughout my career is, you know, it's a pretty quick, easy assessment.

I look at, I look at any hand sink in a production area.

If it's dry, then I know there's a, there's, there's some kind of breakdown in the hand washing process.

And, and, and to me, that's even more indicative of how important it is to have that leadership and to have that culture and to have those SOPs, because if you can't perform when you're, you know, rocking and rolling, when can you? You're in the business to be busy, and when you're busy, you should be well-oiled and moving smoothly, and all of these things should be part of your, you know, your, your, your daily procedure, your workflow.

What does that look like for the average person for them to understand that properly?

Great point.

Great topic.

At a really high level, let me, let me sort of paint a picture.

In the United States, uh, and I could, I could actually get into global statistics, but let's just focus on the United States, right? The, the Centers for Disease Control, they estimate, right? There's that word that I brought up earlier, estimate, because there is widespread underreporting.

By their estimates, um, which are based on historical, um, illness, uh, actual factual data from hospitals and medical providers, uh, and things like that, they estimate 48 million people suffer from a foodborne illness on an annual basis, right? 48 million people.

That's a lot.

Where do you find most of the challenges?

So

myself, I'm a practicing food safety public health expert focused on food safety for the last 25 or so years.

and the last nine of which have been with Kesto as a subject matter expert and resource for the organization.

I also do a lot of organizational outreach and association-based work to share information around food safety-oriented technology.

Prior to that, I've worked for basically a large organization a large north american uh grocery retailer i was there for for five years um and uh prior to that i was i worked for a couple of the the world's largest uh managed food service organizations so my focus throughout my career has always been around operational food safety and uh incorporating efficiencies and process optimization wherever I could.

And this all sort of happened kind of naturally.

I have educational background.

I