Interview: Eleven Rivers Growers CEO on “The Importance of Food Safety – CIAD”
In January, Eng. Hilary Beltrán, Research Assistant at Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology) (CONACyT, for its initials in Spanish) – Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo (Research Center on Food and Development) (CIAD, for its initials in Spanish) made an interview to Eleven Rivers Growers Director, Mr. Georgius Gotsis.
The main purpose of this interview was focused on the importance of food safety in companies from Sinaloa, and how has become a key requirement to growers to access to international markets and the most important methods being applied in these companies for pathogen control.
Accordingly, Mr. Gotsis outlined the pertinence and importance of a Certification Scheme for fresh produce companies in Sinaloa; he also addressed the fact of how the Eleven Rivers Growers certification scheme has currently supported certified companies to generate the culture for compliance among all workers, based on the five main aspects reviewed:
- Process quality system
- Field food safety
- Packaging, storage and transportation
- Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)
- Social and environmental responsibility
He emphasized on how important it is these days to generate this food safety and social responsibility culture in companies; he also explained a little on market trends which return to the buyer, and to distributors which are increasingly informed and demanding with regards to company features and the products being consumed; currently, is not only enough to comply, but also having the possibility to verify all the activities that are carried out in an ongoing manner in companies, to ensure product quality, a reason of which, the pertinence on having programs such as Eleven Rivers to comply with the commitment of offering fresh, healthy, safe, and sustainable products
The research project being developed by Eng. Hilary seeks to develop a product that reduces the impact of pollution risks by pathogen agents, and bring it to a commercial product, thus benefiting the produce industry.