How Jorge Hernandez Scaled Wendy's FSQA Department + Lessons Along The Way

I recently sat down with Jorge Hernandez, Vice President of Quality Assurance at Wendy's, for our 30 Food Safety series. What started as a conversation about his career journey quickly became a deep dive into how one leader has scaled food safety and quality across one of America's largest restaurant chains—and the hard-won lessons he picked up along the way.

Jorge's path from health inspector to leading FSQA at a multi-billion dollar organization isn't just an inspiring story. It's a playbook for anyone trying to build influence, scale programs, and drive real change in food safety.

From Mountains to Medicine to Prevention

Before Jorge ever thought about scaling FSQA programs, he was a kid in Mexico witnessing how lack of sanitation and medical care devastated communities in the Sierra Madre mountains. That early exposure planted a seed: he wanted to help people.

The logical path seemed to be medicine. Heal the sick, save lives, make a difference. But when Jorge landed his first professional job as a health inspector for a local health department near Chicago, everything changed.

"It dawned on me that preventing illness was even more noble than curing it because it saved people from all of the pain and suffering. To me, it became a higher calling, a greater mission."

This shift from reactive to proactive thinking would define Jorge's entire career. It's also the first lesson for anyone trying to scale FSQA programs: prevention is the game, and it's worth dedicating your career to.

The Early Frustration That Sparked Innovation

Here's where Jorge's story gets interesting for those of us in the trenches. Early in his career at the health department, he hit a wall. The traditional inspection approach wasn't moving the needle. Despite his best efforts, food safety outcomes weren't improving.

Most people would have shrugged and said, "Well, that's just how it's done." Jorge didn't. He started exploring HACCP principles and applying them differently. He questioned the status quo relentlessly.

"I was not happy with the status quo. You're going to hear that a lot."

This willingness to experiment and challenge conventional approaches caught the attention of the FDA, who brought him into their Federal State Training Program. Suddenly, Jorge was traveling the country, sharing what worked (and what didn't) in Illinois with other states.

The lesson: When your current approach isn't working, don't just work harder—work differently. Scale doesn't come from doing more of what doesn't work. It comes from finding what does work and then amplifying it.

Building ServSafe: Creating Industry-Wide Impact

Jorge's transition to the National Restaurant Association marked a pivotal moment in his ability to scale impact. The challenge was clear: create a food safety training program that could work for any restaurant, regardless of size or concept, and that aligned with regulatory approaches.

Working with industry members who normally didn't collaborate, Jorge and his team built ServSafe. But they didn't stop at creating a good training program. Jorge worked with the Conference for Food Protection to develop requirements for certified managers in restaurants and grocery stores nationwide.

Years later, the CDC validated the impact: establishments with certified managers produced safer food than those without them.

Think about the scale of that impact. One program, touching millions of food service workers, preventing countless illnesses. That's what happens when you build systems that work and then create the infrastructure to deploy them widely.

The lesson: True scale comes from building programs that others can adopt and adapt. Don't just solve the problem in front of you—solve it in a way that becomes the standard.

The Jump to Industry: US Foods and Ground-Up Program Building

When Jorge made the leap to US Foods, he faced a different scaling challenge. The company had grown through acquisitions, and every acquired company maintained its own standards, procedures, and programs. It was fragmented, inefficient, and nearly impossible to scale.

Jorge's mandate was clear: standardize everything. One food safety program, one quality program, one regulatory approach across all facilities.

But here's where Jorge demonstrated strategic brilliance. He didn't just standardize for compliance's sake. He tied standardization directly to business performance.

Jorge led the initiative to get distribution centers certified in food safety—a high bar to clear. Then he partnered with the University of Michigan to conduct a comparative study: certified facilities versus non-certified facilities, measuring business outcomes.

The data was undeniable. Certified facilities significantly outperformed their non-certified counterparts in profitability and operational efficiency.

"You need to understand your audience. You need to understand what their way of taking information is and then you get to use their language to communicate your message in their language."

Jorge presented this in the language leadership understood: dollars. Food safety wasn't just compliance. It was competitive advantage.

The lesson: When scaling FSQA programs, speak the language of business. Quantify the value. Make it impossible to ignore the ROI of doing things right.

The Communication Advantage: Turning a Barrier Into a Strength

Here's something that struck me during our conversation. Jorge, whose first language isn't English and who still speaks with an accent, identifies communication as his greatest strength.

When I asked about this, Jorge's answer revealed a crucial insight about scaling programs across diverse teams.

Because language was initially a barrier, Jorge became hyper-observant. He learned to read not just what people say, but how they say it, how they frame problems, what they care about. This skill allows him to communicate effectively with everyone from dishwashers to CEOs.

At Wendy's, this ability to code-switch between audiences has been essential. Jorge doesn't just speak food safety—he speaks operations, marketing, finance, and strategy.

The lesson: Scaling FSQA programs requires multilingual fluency. Not literal languages, but business languages. Learn to translate food safety into terms that resonate with every stakeholder.

Wendy's: Six Years of Impact and Continuous Evolution

When Jorge joined Wendy's six years ago, he found an organization with a strong reputation and, more importantly, a culture that valued its people. This cultural alignment matters when you're trying to scale programs that depend on buy-in at every level.

While Jorge couldn't share specific metrics from Wendy's during our conversation, he emphasized several principles that guide his approach to scaling FSQA:

1. Standardization Creates EfficiencyJust as he did at US Foods, Jorge focuses on creating consistent approaches that can be deployed across the entire system. Standardization isn't about rigidity—it's about creating a foundation that everyone can build on.

2. Technology EnablementJorge is energized by the current moment in food safety. AI, advanced analytics, rapid testing, data integration—these tools allow FSQA teams to scale impact in ways that weren't possible even five years ago.

3. Partnership Over PolicingGone are the days when Jorge positioned himself as the "business prevention unit." Today, he's a strategic partner to sales, marketing, and operations. They seek his input on customer communications, product launches, and strategic decisions.

4. Continuous Learning and Unlearning

"Our success is not limited by how much we can learn but how much we can let go of the past and learn a new way of doing it."

This philosophy is essential for scaling in a rapidly changing environment. What worked five years ago may not work today. Jorge and his team stay adaptable.

The Biggest Mistake: Fighting Alone Instead of Building Alliances

When I asked Jorge about his biggest regret, his answer was revealing and incredibly relevant for FSQA professionals trying to scale programs.

Early in his career, Jorge approached food safety as something you do "because it's the right thing to do, regardless of business impact." While admirable, this approach isolated him. He was fighting for resources, always pushing uphill, seen as the person who said no to business opportunities.

The transformation came when he started tying food safety directly to business success. Not just preventing outbreaks, but enabling consistency, operational efficiency, customer trust, and competitive differentiation.

"Food safety and quality, if you do it right, your business will be most successful. You develop the discipline to apply to other things."

Once Jorge made this shift, everything changed. He went from fighting for a seat at the table to being invited to the table. Leaders sought his perspective. Peers saw him as a partner, not a barrier.

The lesson: You can't scale programs when you're fighting alone. Build alliances by demonstrating how food safety enables business success. Make people want to invest in your programs, not resist them.

Living Through a Renaissance in Food Safety

As our conversation turned to the current state of food safety, Jorge's energy was palpable. He believes we're living through an unprecedented moment—a renaissance in the field.

The risks are multiplying faster than ever: food fraud, intentional adulteration, climate change affecting pathogen distribution and growing regions, evolving microorganisms, increasingly complex supply chains.

Simultaneously, our tools are exploding in capability: artificial intelligence for predictive analytics, real-time data integration across supply chains, rapid and portable testing technologies, genomic sequencing for outbreak investigation.

Jorge sees this convergence as both thrilling and challenging. The organizations that will scale effectively are those willing to let go of old methods and embrace new approaches.

For Jorge, the question isn't whether to adopt new technologies—it's how quickly you can learn them and how willing you are to abandon methods that no longer serve you.

Practical Advice for Scaling FSQA Programs

Based on Jorge's journey, here are the key principles for anyone trying to scale food safety and quality programs:

Start With WhyJorge's entire career is anchored in preventing suffering. When your team understands the human impact of the work, they bring different energy to it. Scale starts with purpose.

Challenge the Status Quo RelentlesslyIf something isn't working, don't just work harder at it. Question it. Experiment. Find better ways. Jorge built his career on this principle.

Quantify Business ValuePartner with finance, operations, or academic institutions to demonstrate ROI. Make the business case impossible to ignore.

Speak Multiple LanguagesLearn to communicate food safety in the language of every stakeholder. Operations cares about efficiency. Marketing cares about brand protection. Finance cares about margins. Translate accordingly.

Standardize Before You ScaleYou can't scale chaos. Create consistent approaches, document them, train to them, and then deploy them widely.

Build Strategic PartnershipsYou can't scale programs alone. Make allies in operations, procurement, marketing, and finance. Make them want to invest in your success.

Embrace Technology ThoughtfullyDon't adopt technology for its own sake, but don't resist it either. Evaluate tools based on their ability to help you scale impact.

Hire and Develop Great PeopleJorge emphasized the importance of teams throughout our conversation. Scale happens through people, not despite them.

The Path Forward: Perseverance and Impact

As we wrapped up our conversation, I asked Jorge what advice he'd give to the next generation of food safety leaders. His response captured everything about his approach:

"If you have a dream to make an impact, don't ever, ever, ever give up. You will find a way. There are no barriers. They're only lessons to learn so you can overcome them and become better."

This philosophy has carried Jorge from health inspector to VP at Wendy's. It's guided him through language barriers, career transitions, industry skepticism, and countless obstacles.

The through-line has always been the same: an unwavering commitment to preventing illness and a refusal to accept that the current way is the only way.

For those of us working to scale FSQA programs in our own organizations, Jorge's journey offers both inspiration and instruction. Scale doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen through authority alone. It happens through perseverance, strategic thinking, relationship building, and relentless focus on business value.

It happens when you're willing to challenge yourself as much as you challenge the status quo. When you're willing to speak uncomfortable truths and back them up with data. When you're willing to be a partner, not just a policeman.

Jorge isn't done yet. Six years into his tenure at Wendy's, he's still learning, still adapting, still finding new ways to scale impact. That restless energy to improve, to prevent one more illness, to make one more meaningful change—that's what separates good FSQA leaders from great ones.

And that's the biggest lesson from this conversation: scaling FSQA programs isn't a destination. It's a continuous journey of learning, adapting, and refusing to settle for good enough when better is possible.