Foods Connected has teamed up with US premier quick service restaurant Captain D’s to overhaul their supply chain management – here’s everything you need to know about the partnership. 

With the clock ticking down to the arrival of the Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA) 204 in January 2026, US food businesses are looking at increasing visibility within their supply chains. It was one of the reasons Mark Earnest, Vice President, Quality Assurance at Captain D’s, started looking at his business’ supply chain solutions and evaluating how he and his team could streamline the processes in place at the premier quick service seafood restaurant group.  

Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, Captain D’s owns, operates and franchises 535 seafood restaurants in 23 states. That means that the brand’s international supply chain can be complex. Mark explains, “We’re serious about serving great food – and that means sourcing high-quality seafood at affordable prices to give our loyal customers the best dining experience possible. But with more than 535 restaurants around the country, being able to seamlessly manage our diverse global supply base can be challenging.” 

He knew the team needed to partner with a supply chain solution provider – a business that already employed experts in the industry, who could offer a keen insight into how Captain D’s could overhaul their ways of working.  

"We’re serious about serving great food... but with more than 535 restaurants around the country, being able to seamlessly manage our diverse global supply base can be challenging."

That’s when he realised one of his long-time industry contacts, Keith Cole, could help. Keith had recently taken on the role of President of Sales, North America, at Foods Connected. Together they analysed how Foods Connected’s suite of cloud-based software solutions could simplify the Captain D’s supply chain, managing and reporting on traceability, compliance, product lifecycle management, procurement, quality control and sustainability. 

Earnest continues, “Foods Connected’s innovative software solutions will give us the power to unlock the data we need for complete transparency across our supply chain, ensuring we are more efficient, better prepared for FSMA 204 and most importantly delivering the best foods at a great value - the recipe to our success for the past 50 years.” 

Working with Foods Connected will help Captain D’s: 

  • gain complete visibility of their suppliers’ compliancy journey towards FSMA 204 

  • generate centralised supplier approval data and set up automated accreditation processes 

  • deliver real-time incident and risk management.

Keith adds, “We’re very excited to be partnering with a heritage brand like Captain D’s. Together we’re going to overhaul the brand’s supply chain management and streamline ways of working for the next wave of the Captain D’s development.” 

Want to know more about FSMA 204 and how it could affect your business? Read our blog on the subject here: 

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