Interview: Cesar Lopez Valdez, Agricola De La Costa.

César López Valdez is a native of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, he is an Engineer in Food Biochemistry, and has a Master’s degree in Food Science and Technology.  He was a speaker at the Eleven Rivers Growers Training Program for the 2018-2019 Season.

1.What is your professional education and how long have you worked in Agricola De La Costa?

I graduated as an Engineer in Food Biochemistry and have a Master’s degree in Food Science and Technology by the Faculty of Chemical-Biological Sciences. I have worked for over 5 years in Agricola De La Costa.

2. In what area do you work and what are your duties within the company?

I am responsible of the Certifications area, and the main functions I have on my command are to ensure that the quality and food safety system are implementing is effective, detecting and anticipating potential risks, as well as establishing continuous improvements, which allow us to produce safe food for our customers.

3.¿How has your teaching experience helped you with your work team and how do you train them?

It is very satisfying and thanks to that, I was able to find the way to train the personnel in difficult and very complex subjects, looking for the simplest manner, always with the purpose of making understandable so that they can implement it immediately.

The Trainings of our induction program are carried out in the classroom when someone is new in the company. Since there are many subjects, not all of them are totally clear sometimes. For that reason, reinforcement trainings are in place for each of the work areas, because it is where we can detect if trainings were effective or it is necessary to emphasize certain subjects. I always look for examples in common situations that could happen and how to solve them with help of other peers

4. How do you work with your team in order to achieve a compliance culture and what methodology do you use?

All of us who work in this industry and have a responsibility in food safety know that the most difficult part is to consolidate a culture from the personnel towards the compliance of policies and regulations. With the support of the CEO, much of this work is easier, as there is clarity in purposes and constant supervision of all the areas, to keep a safe, hygienic environment.

I consider that, if a company is concerned about the well-being of workers, it is easier for us to monitor the compliance with regulations.

5. What do you consider are the key areas of the agricultural operation?

All areas are important to ensure quality and safe products. Each one of them represents very particular challenges and problems that require analysis, daily monitoring, control measures, corrective actions, and everything that has been implemented in the quality management system.

For such, we must have trained and experienced personnel, which can anticipate to potential hazards within and outside its process, and how to prevent them from affecting the quality and food safety of the product. Once we can be sure of this, we will have to preserve it between all the stages that make up the system until the product reaches the end consumer.

6. How does it help to have procedure manuals and regulations in the company?

They allow to standardize the knowledge of the processes that we have; in this way any worker or client can consult the information of them, it facilitates the training because we rely on them and we can update the manuals as changes are introduced.

7. What are the main changes in the grower companies that come with the entry into force of new international regulations such as FSMA?

The main change of this law is the scope, now we all companies have to implement effective measures to prevent contamination in products exported to the US. For this reason, we must comply with specific requirements and preventive controls, based on science, and apply them throughout all the stages of the process.

8. How do certifications help you to comply with those changes?

They constitute a factor that generates trust and reliability by being able to satisfy the client requirements, they provides us with prestige and strengthen the company image.

9. What has been your experience working with different certifications?

Each certification has demanded a very big effort from us; because they address requirements, we sometimes do not have in that moment. I have learned to distribute responsibilities among all my colleagues and make questions or ask for clarification when something is not clear to us.

10. How has the Eleven Rivers Certification Scheme helped you in your work?

We know that it is a very thorough scheme, and it is accompanied by weekly visits, which have become a work habit we did not have before. It is an organization of all our information, records, manuals and we saw, as a direct consequence, a significant improvement in compliance with the requirements of Commercial Certifications from other schemes.

11. Anything else you want to add?

I want to thank Eng. Juan Habermann and Mrs. Silvia Ibarra for all the support and trust they have placed in me. New Certifications have been achieved that have made us more competitive and this opens the doors to new markets.