Quality Assurance and Food Safety

 

A major focus for us is to ensure that we produce consistent quality and food that is safe for the consumer. To ensure this we have the following programs and initiatives in place.

 

SQF and WQA certification

 

We are SQF (Safe Quality Food) certified and WQA (Woolworths Quality Assurance) certified. Both of these certifications require us to have in place systems to ensure that right from soil preparation to despatch of produce we are able to ensure safe practices in food handling, minimising any risk of quality problems or food contamination. We also ensure that all produce is traceable so as if there were to be a problem we can then fully trace the history of that produce to find out exactly where anything may have gone wrong.

 

Produce Inspection

 

Inspection of produce takes place at certain times during production. Crops are inspected constantly during their course of growing to monitor pest and disease symptoms. Crops are also inspected daily prior to harvest to ensure that each vegetable is harvested when it is at its ideal maturity. Then of course we have many inspections taking place during our washing and packing process to ensure produce is fresh, clean and meets the criteria set out by our customers.

 

Staff Training and Hygiene

 

All of our staff are trained in food safety so as to ensure that all producing and handling of produce is performed in a safe and hygienic way. One of our philosophies is that you should always consider yourself as the consumer of the produce you are handling, so treat it in the way you would want it handled.

 

Public Awareness

 

With everything we have in place to ensure best quality and safe food to consume, we also see that as added safety we recommend that the consumer always wash produce before consuming. As we grow our vegetables in a very natural environment, in rich fertile soil, it is always worth washing the produce as you prepare it, as we are unable to clean produce thoroughly without breaking it apart. This is particularly evident in leafy vegetables.