Sound Policy: Risk, resilience, and salty snacks with Utz Quality Foods' Staci Smith

Brian Amaral 
Welcome to Sound Policy, a podcast from FM where we share the latest insights on what it takes to protect today's businesses. We have a special episode for you today. We are recording this at RISKWORLD 2026, in Philadelphia, the annual gathering of global risk professionals. And I'm delighted today, we have one of those professionals joining our show today to talk about her work. Staci Smith is the vice president of risk management at Utz, an iconic company based right here in Pennsylvania, making salty snacks that Americans love. Staci, welcome to the show. Thanks for being on. 

Staci Smith 
Thank you for having me today. I’m really excited about the opportunity. 

Brian Amaral 
So, vice president of risk management at Utz. Potato chips, pretzels, cheese balls. That sounds like a really cool job. 

Staci Smith 
It is an awesome job. It is, it is a very exciting, and it’s a great opportunity. I mean, being a, a risk manager at any organization, you deal with similar challenges, whether it's keeping people safe, whether it’s the insurance side, whether it’s enterprise risk management or…But, really, I mean, the role is, it’s, it’s really exciting to be part of an iconic company like Utz, with the product that we have, just the brand loyalty that we have, you know. We have many household names that you guys may know, whether it’s Utz brands, Zapp’s brands, Boulder Canyon, On The Border. There are a lot of names beside our flagship Utz products. But we’re in a lot of households across the United States, so we have to make sure that we live up to that reputation.  

Brian Amaral 
Our viewers are going to be very hungry. I hope they have a snack on hand for this episode. 

Staci Smith 
Hopefully, it’s an Utz snack. Because, you know, you have to be prepared for that.  

Brian Amaral 
We’re on brand here.  

Staci Smith 
Exactly. 

Brian Amaral 
How did you get into this line of work? 

Staci Smith 
So, I'm one of the ones that did not study risk management. Growing up in western Pennsylvania, risk management was something that I never even knew was a career. So, my background is, went to school, majored in biology, planned on going to medical school, graduated with my undergraduate degree and decided that that medical school was not the right path for me. So, worked in real estate a little bit. And then my husband, my now husband, got a job in Harrisburg. We relocated and I got a job at a life insurance brokerage firm. So, again, didn't really know a lot about insurance at that point. Worked there for ten years. And then an opportunity came up at a large Fortune 500 confection company located in central Pennsylvania and was able to start risk management there. So, started on the ground up. Started working in claims. Worked my up to being their global risk manager. I was there for about eight and a half years and then transitioned to Utz Brands, where I’ve been there almost three years now, establishing and overseeing the risk management department. So, it’s been a fun journey. So, again, not that educational background, where I didn’t go to school for risk management, but I kind of stumbled into it, realizing that’s my passion, and that’s what excites me every day. 

Brian Amaral 
I feel like that’s a common story, whether it's insurance or risk management. “Stumbled into it,” may be the most common verb that people describe: to stumble into insurance and/or risk management as well, and end up really enjoying it. It's certainly my story. I know, I'm sure our audience is probably already pretty well immersed in this, but how would you describe risk management to somebody who's not familiar with it? And, you know, when you stumble into it and then end up staying in there for a long time, why is that? Why do people love it so much? 

Staci Smith 
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think risk management gives you a really good perspective of the organization, where a lot of people think you're there to say no to them, you're there to, you know, completely eliminate risk or completely mitigate risk. And that's really kind of the opposite of what we do. What we do is, yes, you want to mitigate risk, but you want to be comfortable with risk and understand the risk. Understand what your opportunities are to mitigate it but also understand that you're not going to mitigate everything, and sometimes that’s okay. Sometimes risk is positive. You could have a positive opportunity that might be risky. But really helping educate the business to understand, you know, when can you take advantage of a situation? When, when is a situation going to be beneficial to you? Or what other scenarios do you need to maybe think about it differently and do something to mitigate that risk, whether it's purchase insurance, which is one, one way. Or, you know, adding sprinklers to one of your buildings, which, obviously, with, with FM, is something that’s a preferred way to mitigate risk. 

Brian Amaral 
We have sprinklers right over your shoulder. There's an enormous display of sprinklers, so… 

Staci Smith 
It's really just educating the business, I think is really what, what is helpful with that. And it's not just the operations, you know. It's going down to procurement, I think is really helpful to just teaching them, you know, the importance of that risk evaluation, importance of contract, reviewing the contract, and that contract certainty, and also the importance of having appropriate risk, you know, risk mana-, or risk options, insurance options in the contract. 

Brian Amaral 
Automation. Obviously a big opportunity. We, we hear a lot about the opportunities of automation. How are you thinking about the risks that automation might bring? How are you working through those issues? 

Staci Smith 
I mean, the risks of automation is really looking at kind of the cyber component of it all. So, if there's a cyber incident, the more automated you are, the more opportunities for impact there is. Where when you have a very manual process, you're relying on humans, so you, it’s easier to kind of have a backup process. So, when it comes to automation, that is a potential risk, where, you know, there’s the cyber, you know, element into that. And also, there's the technology glitches. There's a lot more maintenance than having manual processes. I mean, there is some risks, but I think that's one of the areas where the opportunities and the cost savings really kind of outweigh some of those other risks that come into play.  

Brian Amaral 
How have you worked through those cyber issues? 

Staci Smith 
I mean, with, with that, a lot of it comes down to the preplanning that we do with our cyber team. So, our cyber team, we have worked on, you know, crisis management, developing what’s, what plan are we going to be having. So, what are we going to do in the event of an incident. Making sure our policies are and procedures are in place, and then also doing tabletop exercises to exercise those. So, we’ve done various tabletop exercises, you know, with the executives, with, you know, the board, with our, you know, core IT team. We’ve actually done one recently partnered with FM. They were able to come in with their cyber expertise and help us develop one that was kind of like a hide-and-seek-type, type game that our IT team got to do. So, it was something that was really out of the box; but it was a great partnership and a great way for our team to learn and really practice, kind of like a real live scenario, in a safe situation, but, again, with, with great collaboration. 

Brian Amaral 
So, people walking through their grocery store or their convenience store might see a bag of chips and not realize it's maybe more high tech and more AI and automation focused than they, than they might expect. Are people surprised by that when you're talking to them? 

Staci Smith 
I, I, I think people really are. I think, I mean, people who are in the manufacturing industry understand how important, you know, the cyber risk is and the AI risk is. You know, it’s not like we’re in health care, where there’s a lot of PI or PHI, but it's really, it's the business interruption aspect of it. So, that's something that I think a lot of people, you know, don't take into consideration when they're considering our risk. But, you know, I think that's out there for any type of business. Every business has a cyber, a cyber risk. And any business who’s using AI either has the risk for using it or, you know, they have the risk of if they don't use it, then they’re missing out on the potential upside and the potential benefits of AI. So, you know, AI is here. AI is, you know, if you’re, you need to use it. If not, you know, you’re going to be left behind. So, it’s really just understanding how to use it, how to utilize it safely, how to utilize it with guardrails, and just, you know, how to utilize it effectively to help your organization. 

Brian Amaral 
So, you've been involved in the food manufacturing business for, for some time now. What goes into getting product on the shelf? 

Staci Smith 
There's a lot that goes into getting a product on the shelf. And a lot of it is supply chain related. I mean, manufacturing products, you know, sometimes they're more simple and complex depending on which food company that you're working for at the time. But really, the supply chain leading up to it is something that's really important and something that, you know, can be extremely complicated. Really depends on what your components are. But a lot of whether the ingredients, whether you’re sourcing them, you know, your core ingredients, they’re gonna be sourced domestically or internationally. But then, you have to look at packaging. You have to look at your packaging. Where do the dyes come from? They may come from a completely different region than your packaging comes from or the market that you’re, where you’re actually purchasing your packaging. So, really kind of peeling back that onion, those layers, and going back to tracing your components. Who are are their suppliers, or their suppliers? Really, back to the source. Really helps you understand your supply chain and make it more efficient and more resilient. Because if there's something happening in a region, and you know that region is common for inks, or that region is common for spices that go into your, your final finished product. Yes, that’s not directly impacting you where you are. But eventually, as you work down the supply chain to those primary sources, that will ultimately make it to you. So, really, identifying that. That's really, you know, part of the challenge. Then, obviously, you manufacture your product. You go through that. You need to make sure your manufacturing equipment is in good condition. You need to make sure you’re doing the preventative maintenance, and you have those processes in place to keep your operations running. And then, it's the logistics to get the product on the store shelves. So, again, that involves a lot of, you know, transportation risk. That involves a lot of warehousing. That involves a lot of people risk, of just making sure that whole process works efficiently. So, it is a very involved product to get, you know, between the ingredient and getting a product on the shelf, for most people, I think it’s really mind-blowing to see how many steps and components. ‘Cause even the sourcing of ingredients, that’s involves procurement. You’re involving manufacturing teams. You’re involving the finance team to calculate the cost of it. So, really involves a lot more individuals have a hand in that process than, than one would typically think.  

Brian Amaral 
What don’t people most understand about the role of a risk manager?  

Staci Smith 
I think what is most misunderstood is that people think you're there to say no. You’re there to ruin the fun. You’re there to say no to everything and tell them what they're not allowed to do. Which I, I view it as completely the opposite. I view it as I'm here to partner with you, and I'm here to partner to give you a way to empower you to say yes. But to power you to say yes, understanding what the risk associated with that activity is. So, really providing that education, on teaching you this is, what it means. This is what the risk means. This is what we could do from a mitigation perspective, whether it's actual controls in place, whether it’s contract language, whether it's them having our partner maintain insurance. But, you know, here’s, here’s the control, here's the risk. Here are the controls that we have. This is the amount that’s risk that’s left. Are we comfortable with that, based on the potential upside of the agreement? So, really educating the business, empowering the business to be able to comfortably say yes, make that informed decision, I think is really the key. I mean, it's really my goal to be a partner for the organization. And to, you know, I want them to come to me when they have problems, when they have challenges, and we can work through it together. So, that's how I see my role. I mean, just as a funny story, everyone, again, thinks we say no. The only thing I've ever said no to was one of my teams wanted to do a new employee onboarding event with the sales team, who were freshly out of, most of them were freshly out of college, at a bar, and it was bull riding. 

Brian Amaral 
Bull riding. 

Staci Smith 
Like, that was the one hard line no that I have ever given in my career. Anything else, there’s typically a work-around, or ways to say yes to, and get comfortable with that risk.  

Brian Amaral 
Yeah. We will not ask you to do any mechanical bull riding on the show. We're just talking about insurance and risk management. You’re, we're fine. How do you get buy-in for the work that you're doing? How do you make sure to get that buy-in for the things that you want to do?  

Staci Smith 
Yeah, I think getting buy-in is something that can be challenging. But a lot of that comes to, you know, understanding the problem and then framing it and understanding who you’re talking to. So, really looking at what that core risk is. Making sure you have the right, right business partners engaged and framing it to how it's going to impact them or their part of the organization. ‘Cause, obviously, a risk can impact various parts of the organization differently. But keeping your message focused. Keeping your message realistic and applicable based on that person’s scope. And just being transparent with them, saying, “Listen, this is the risk. Let’s throw it out there. Let’s have a candid conversation. This is what happens if we do nothing. This is what we could do.” And have that open conversation of is the cost, you know, worth the mitigation, you know, the risk reduction. 

Brian Amaral 
Unless it's bull riding. 

Staci Smith 
Unless it’s bull riding. That, you know, take out the bull riding, everything else is fine. But that, that was kind of the key component of the event. 

Brian Amaral 
Because the whole point of bull riding is eventually you are thrown off the bull.  

Staci Smith 
You are thrown off.  

Brian Amaral 
Like that, that is the inevitable… 

Staci Smith 
Yes. Exactly. 
 
Brian Amaral 
…end point of bull riding is to be ejected from...  

Staci Smith 
Yes. And that with alcohol.  

Brian Amaral 
And new hires. 

Staci Smith 
And 21-year-olds. You know, that, that combination of things... 

Brian Amaral 
That's a hard no.  

Staci Smith 
That, that was a hard no.  

Brian Amaral 
Besides that, is there anything else you could point to that you're proud of to reduce risk? Something, something you've done that you're, that you're most proud of? 

Staci Smith 
Of course. I would say, two examples come to mind. One of them is establishing enterprise risk management. So, I know some organizations don't necessarily have a mature way of looking at risks. Really, things come up and they handle it, but they're not proactively seeking what are the risk within the organization and how do they partner together with other risks or other factors the organization. So, I think establishing the ERM program was really helpful in getting the business to think about risk differently, to proactively think, ok, what impact…Like, this is a risk in my part of the world, my part of the organization. Where else could it be impacted by this? If it's a supply chain risk, could it also impact finance? Could it also impact HR? Thinking of that cross-functionally and then setting up cross-functional working groups to address those risks. That way you're not looking at in silo. You're not doing something to mitigate your risk, but it's increasing the risk in another part of the organization. That's the last thing you wanna do. So, I think just having that higher level organization view of risk, you know, has been very helpful. And also, too, I would say, you know, bringing in FM as a partner and using that partner relationship has been helpful also. Just due to, you know, the identification of risk, helping us mitigate risk. I mean, anybody who's familiar with FM knows, you know, what they're very good at. The engineering is, you know, the best in class. So, that is something else I’m really proud of being able to bring that to my organization. Have that partnership, and that is really helping us kind of reach that next level with being resilient. So, we're able to continue to make the products, you know, that everybody knows and loves. 

Brian Amaral 
So at RISKWORLD, we're surrounded by professionals who have faced a lot of change, a lot of disruption in the past few years. What do you think has fundamentally changed about the risk landscape, especially as it relates to food manufacturing? 

Staci Smith 
I would say what’s really changed over the last few years is that disruption is the new baseline. Disruptions are going to happen. They’re going to happen consistently. Leadership understands this. So, what’s really critical is to have, you know, to have your team be able to raise their hand and call out when they see something that's going a little astray. I mean, that's critical because if you see something, you can react to it. You can go do research. It gives you a little bit more time to prepare. So, those are the teams that are going to be, you know, more successful when that incident actually happens or when that disruption actually occurs. But this is really predicated on the, you know, the senior leadership and the company culture. Because if you're in a culture where, you know, raising your hand, saying, “This isn't quite right,” you’re blamed. You know, you don't want to be assigning blame to people. You don’t want to be ridiculing them or saying, “Well, why didn’t you get this right in the first place?” You really have to be, have an organization that welcomes that. Welcomes someone being like, “Listen, I’m raising my hand. I think we need to look into this.” Having that I think is, is really important and really will differentiate, is a differentiator within organizations and how they’re handling risk and how they’re handling disruption. 

Brian Amaral 
What is the big risk that keeps Staci Smith up at night? 

Staci Smith 
So, this is a question that everybody asks, and that I really, really do not like. So, yeah, I’m just giving you…So, my perspective is I’ve been very fortunate in my career to always work in food manufacturing. So, we're not saving lives. We're not really changing the world. So, maybe if I was in a different industry that was life-saving… 

Brian Amaral 
Sure.  

Staci Smith 
…I may have a different opinion on this question. But really, I don’t see risk as a bad thing. I mean, risk can be a good thing; it can be opportunities. And you have to learn how to manage risk and how to deal with risk and be comfortable with risk. So, I would say, if I panicked about everything, I wouldn’t be good at my job. So, from that perspective, that's why I don't like the question. But I would, I would counter that with saying, I think if you're going to be kind of nervous or question something, it would be the unknown risk. ‘Cause you know the risks within your organization. You know what the post possibilities are. But it’s that something that comes out of left field that you’ve never thought of before, never considered before. You don't have a plan in place. I think that for most organizations is what can be most impactful. Because, again, you haven’t put any thought behind it. But a lot of the risks that most organizations have, they’ve at least some planning around it. Some thought. Some understanding. So, if I had to answer the question, it would be the risk that you don't know about would be the risk that you would be most worried about. 

Brian Amaral 
And, obviously, we can't say what those in the future are. But are there past examples where something emerged that you weren't expecting and had challenges with? 

Staci Smith 
Yeah, I would say, I mean, there've been some supply chain risks that occurred. And part of that was, you know, not necessarily understanding the supply chain as well as we could have. Where, had a provider in the past who, you know, had a flood, didn't know their location was in a flood zone. Didn't realize they were the single supplier of one product. We had a different address for them. They had multiple facilities. This one core product could only be made at this one location, due to the equipment that they had. So again, that was kind of an unknown risk. We thought that we had multiple locations that could make this one product or this one component, and it wasn’t the case. So, again, that surprise really was impactful to the organization. So, again, something we never thought about, something we didn't know, that created more of a challenge than the risks that we had previously identified. 

Brian Amaral 
What are one or two emerging risks? Things that we already do know about that maybe aren't getting enough attention? 

Staci Smith 
I would say AI. I mean, I think AI is a risk both, you know, a positive, where there’s a lot of benefits to it; but I think there's just so much unknown of how it's going to be utilized by, you know, the hackers or whoever else within the organization. So, I think there are a lot of opportunities with it. What I think from a risk perspective, that's one that, you know, makes me a little bit nervous. 

Brian Amaral 
AI and chips. I mean, that's not, you know….We didn't think we'd go there, but, you know, people might not, might not realize that we're actually talking about Utz today on our chips. What about opportunity? You sort of alluded to this with AI. Because there's also opportunities, too. What do you think that, what do you think the future of food manufacturing looks like? What excites you about the future?  

Staci Smith 
Yeah, I think there’s…so, I mean. I think really AI and, you know, automation and being able to utilize data to make more informed decisions to help create supply chain efficiencies. I see that as a real benefit. So, I see AI being involved in more, in kind of the data analytics and helping just to ensure we’re making smarter, more efficient business decisions instead of someone crunching numbers on a spreadsheet. You know, all that math and all that work is being done behind the scenes. And making sure, of course, there’s a human in the loop and a human helping make those decisions. But I think that computing power of AI is going to be integral. And also automation. I mean, I think automation is really going to be key to help, you know, prevent employee injuries from the workers’ comp side. And also help with efficiency, help reduce cost. And that enables us to upskill, you know, current associates that companies have, of instead of maybe a general labor position, you know, if you automate a process, someone may be able to get promoted and be a supervisor or be a production manager. Things like that. So, I think there are a lot, a lot of opportunities that are available. It’ll just be interesting to see how that comes along in the next few years. 

Brian Amaral 
We will find out. We have to end on this question. It’s very important to me, personally. You work for Utz.  

Staci Smith 
Yes, I do.  

Brian Amaral 
A great company based right here in Pennsylvania. What is your favorite Utz potato chip or just salty snack in general? 

Staci Smith 
I would say, I’m going to give you two. So, one is the dirty sour cream and onion, just regular potato chip. And the other one is called The Big Cheesy. 

Brian Amaral 
The Big Cheesy.  

Staci Smith 
It’s a potato chip. And it has, you know, the core cheese ball flavor on a potato chip. So, it's something that's, you know, relatively new, but it’s, it's very interesting. But I would suggest everyone go try it because it is, it's definitely worth it. 

Brian Amaral 
Great. Thank you, Staci, for being on the show. Appreciate it. 

Staci Smith 
Well, thank you. I appreciate the time.