Continuous quality improvement is essential to firms who wish to function within a global business environment. Strategic quality improvement is often facilitated through a formalized quality management system (West & Cianfrani, 2004). Quality management systems have been used for many years in industries such as manufacturing and health care to improve efficiencies and maintain high levels of customer satisfaction (Deming, 2000; Bowersox et al., 2007), but their use in processing industries such as food and agriculture is a more recent trend (Hurburgh & Lawrence, 2003). These systems provide a way for firms to focus on customer requirements and tighten their supply chains by clearly defining and controlling their operations and processes (West & Cianfrani, 2004).