On the 16th, 17th and 18th of November, our Aceites Agro Sevilla S.A.U. bottling plant, in Puebla de Cazalla, passed an unannounced audit carried out by Bureau Veritas, for BRC / IFS certification. After an exhaustive analysis, the plant has been awarded the highest recognition not only for BRC (AA+) but also IFS (higher Level).
Furthermore, our olive production plant Agro Sevilla Aceitunas, S.C.A., also obtained an A+ BRC certification and Higher Level for IFS at the end of October, following an unannounced extraordinary audit.
During the audit, compliance with the requirements of these standards was verified through the inspection of a large number of company activities, which, in the words of José Antonio Fernández, quality director of Agro Sevilla: “ Aren’t limited to production processes (supplier evaluation and control, olive processing, raw material storage, oxidation, packaging, sterilization / pasteurization, boxing, finished product storage, shipping), but also those directly related to food safety such as cleanliness and hygiene, pest control, allergen management, prevention of foreign object contamination, chemical and microbiological analysis, fraud prevention, process control and hotspot monitoring, etc., as well as other technical aspects such as the maintenance of facilities and equipment, the calibration of monitoring and measurement devices, process validation, water control, waste management, compliance with legislation, etc.”
The BRC standard (Global Standard for Food Safety) establishes a single criterion for quality and safety, helping distributors to comply with legal food safety obligations that guarantee the highest level of consumer protection. This is one of the most important international food safety standards.
Meanwhile, the IFS Food Standard was founded by the Federal Union of the German Trade Association (BDH) and the French Trade and Distribution Federation (FDC) with the aim of creating a common reference in food safety. As such, these certificates represent a distinction in terms of food safety for those companies that obtain them.