Again this season many businesses will have addressed that annual task of getting a ‘tick’ from the quality assurance (QA) auditor.
Domestic and international consumers want confidence that the food they eat is safe; and the trade and legal ramifications around contaminated food are now well-recognised.
But QA is not just about food safety, it is a critical part of risk management.
Large companies in particular have been paying increasing attention to risk—to the extent that many employ a high-level Risk Management Officer, and the Board is expected to have Risk Management as a major topic at every meeting.
It is clear that some form of regulation is required around food safety given the cases that arise time and again of sub-standard, potentially dangerous food products in marketplaces. In a competitive world, corners get cut.
Given all this, it is disappointing (to me at least) that the whole purpose of the QA process for many business owners is to do just enough to get that auditor’s tick.
In many cases owners have little input into the process and are comfortable that some of their people do all the QA work. Then the system is put away for the rest of the year.
QA systems offer much more than this.
Controlling what you can
There are many things that a grower cannot control, from weather to market prices, and these cause a great deal of discussion each season.
However, rather than worrying about things that can’t be controlled, it should be comforting to know that there are a many things that can be controlled.
QA systems offer a great opportunity to bring many aspects of the business under control for very little effort, as follows:
Each QA system comes as a ready-made package. You don’t have to do any thinking; just download the framework and the internal audit forms and you’re away (HACCP-based systems do take more work)
Continued next month
See this article in Tree Fruit May 2016
