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Visit 3-A SSI in booth N-4539 and see our team present from the Industry Speaks stage (N-4544) on Wednesday, October 21, at 12:30 PM CDT. Our booth is located in the Association Pavillion, near the North Building entrance, and directly across from the Industry Speaks stage.

Meri Beth Wojtaszek, 3-A SSI Executive Director, and Eric Schweitzer, 3-A SSI Director, Standards & Certifications, will present "Spec It Right: What Smart Equipment Buyers Do Before the First Quote." The presentation will give food and beverage processors good information and resources to inform equipment purchasing decisions.

Equipment purchases in food and beverage processing are 10- to 20-year commitments. The difference between equipment that performs and equipment that causes problems — longer CIP cycles, failed inspections, contamination risk — comes down to what you require before you sign the purchase order.  

This session gives attendees two practical tools they can use immediately: a Total Cost of Ownership Calculator that translates surface finish, drainage design, and maintenance accessibility into real facility costs, and the 3-A SSI Certified Equipment Directory, a live verification database of 650+ certified equipment manufacturers searchable by equipment category, sector, and certificate status.

Attendees will also hear directly from 3-A Symbol Holders on what separates buyers who get it right from buyers who don't.  Leave with a framework for writing equipment specifications that protect your facility — and the tools to back them up.

You have a story worth telling, and we would love for you to tell it at the 2027 Summit on Hygienic Design.

We are building the program around one idea: “Building a Food SafetyCulture Through Hygienic Design.”

That culture is built by people like you: Equipment manufacturers, food and dairy processors, regulators and inspectors, procurement professionals, and researchers who have done the work and lived the results.

If you have specified 3-A certified equipment, made the business case for hygienic design investment, improved an inspection outcome, prevented contamination through smarter design,or navigated a certification journey of your own, your peers want to hear how you did it.

Topics range from equipment specification and CIP chemistry to AI and automation in food processing, standards development, and maintenance practices that protect hygienic design over time. A full list of session topics is available on the call for speakers page.

The deadline to submit a proposal is September 30, 2026.