John Zimmermann has over 40 years of experience in the quality assurance and food safety field within the food processing, food distribution, and foodservice industry.
He was formerly the Vice President of Quality Assurance and Food Safety for First Watch restaurants. In that position, he served as brand protector and ambassador by creating, implementing, and maintaining a world class, end-to-end quality assurance and food safety philosophy that ensures that only high quality and safe food is served to all First Watch customers. The position was also responsible for establishing food safety and product quality standards that had direct impact on customer satisfaction and innovation. He previously worked for a large distribution company, Sysco, as a Regional Director of Food Safety. He also worked for a global foodservice contract management company, Sodexo, as the Senior Director of QA & Food Safety.
A graduate of the State University of New York at Morrisville with a degree in Food Processing Technology. He holds a Certified Professional - Food Safety (CP-FS) credential, HACCP certification and is Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI) certified.
In 2021, the National Restaurant Association named Zimmermann as the recipient of the Outstanding Food Safety Leader award.
He has been an active member of the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP), Conference for Food Protection (CFP), National Restaurant Association FSQA Expert Exchange Group, National Environmental Health Association (NEHA), Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO), Conference to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR) and the FDA Restaurant Food Safety Partnership.
