Better than 'best practice'

The global food industry is NOT best practice. In our never-ending drive to find new superlatives to describe business performance, 'business excellence' and 'best practice' are used to conceal the shortcomings in our business systems. If we had already reached 'best practice' where else is there to go. Isn't it better to recognise and address our inadequacies as an industry, so that we can continually improve, get better? Shouldn't we be looking for 'better practice'? So what is 'better practice' in the food supply chain? It is recognition of the factors driving the domestic and global market place, and implementation of business practice to respond to those needs, namely: Food safety systems that are based on the Codex (or NACMCF) Principles of HACCP; Market driven quality assurance; A strong working relationship with through-chain partners; A service ethic; Innovation; Environmental responsibility; Adoption of 'contemporary quality principles'.