FMI names SQFI New Director of Business Development, North America

August 11, 2026 Arlington, VA – Today, FMI — The Food Industry Association BB #:162464 welcomes Jackie Galarza as director of business development, North America for the Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI), a division of FMI.

Galarza brings more than a decade of experience building businesses, developing strategic partnerships, and turning trusted customer and supplier relationships into measurable results across the food, beverage, spirits, and packaging industries.

“As a natural connector and results-oriented leader, Jackie will focus on strengthening our Certification Body and key-account relationships and support continued growth across North America,” said Gigi Vita, chief food safety assessment officer & senior vice president for SQFI. “We welcome her highly collaborative nature and relationship-building talents to our team.”

In her career, Galarza helped build Gamer Packaging’s craft spirits business from the ground up, generating $19 million in revenue, developing domestic and international partnerships, and managing a broad customer portfolio. More recently, she has led strategic partner relationships, joint business planning, and cross-functional initiatives across the food and beverage sector.

Galarza earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Journalism and Strategic Communications from the University of Missouri. She lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota, with her husband and their two young sons.

About The Safe Quality Food Institute
The Safe Quality Food (SQF) program is hosted by SQFI – Safe Quality Food Institute, a division of FMI, The Food Industry Association. FMI administers the SQF program, a leading, global food safety and quality certification and management system. While SQFI is most known for its globally benchmarked food safety and quality program, the SQFI team does much more than writing and maintaining this standard. The SQFI mission is to deliver consistent, globally recognized food safety and quality certification programs that are based on sound scientific principles, applied across all industry sectors, and valued by all stakeholders. The SQFI Program is a rigorous and credible food safety and quality management program recognized by retailers, brand owners, and food service providers world-wide. www.SQFI.com

About FMI
As the food industry association, FMI works with and on behalf of the entire industry to advance a safer, healthier and more efficient consumer food supply chain. FMI brings together a wide range of members across the value chain — from retailers that sell to consumers, to producers that supply food and other products, as well as the wide variety of companies providing critical services — to amplify the collective work of the industry. www.FMI.org

Media Contact: Kelli Windsor, media@fmi.org