Michelle Wollenzien is a food safety and quality leader with over 25 years of experience advancing food protection, product quality, and operational excellence across retail grocery, foodservice, and food manufacturing.
Her 16-year tenure at H-E-B Grocery Company was defined by innovation and collaboration. Michelle helped pioneer programs in the retailer’s specialty foods division, including retail seafood HACCP, unpasteurized cold-pressed juice, commissary operations, and mobile food truck initiatives. She routinely conducted supplier visits during peak production periods to ensure consistency, compliance, and brand protection, while partnering with H-E-B’s Warehouse, Distribution, Transportation, and Laboratory teams to conduct root cause investigations and verify preventive controls. Working with R&D, merchandising, and regulatory leaders, she helped commercialize innovative offerings while safeguarding brand integrity, leading training programs that strengthened food safety culture across more than 400 stores.
Building on that foundation, Michelle founded InnoSafe Foods, a consulting firm dedicated to elevating food safety systems across retail, foodservice, and food processing sectors. Through InnoSafe and her role as an Expert Advisor with Active Food Safety, she leads national initiatives in regulatory compliance, risk governance, and food safety culture transformation.
Known for bridging compliance with operational practicality, Michelle specializes in developing food safety management systems that are realistic, resilient, and respected—from back-of-house to the boardroom. She is a sought-after educator and speaker on topics including Retail HACCP programs and building sustainable food safety cultures.
Michelle holds multiple professional certifications, including Certified Professional – Food Safety (CP-FS), Preventive Controls Qualified Individual (PCQI), Seafood HACCP (AFDO/NOAA), and State Food Safety Proctor. She has served as Secretary of the Retail Professional Development Group for the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP), as Scribe for the Conference for Food Protection (CFP), and remains an active member of IAFP, its Iowa affiliate, and NEHA.
