QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEMS

Supermarket buyers will buy produce only from sources that can demonstrate an appropriate and documented QA system. To comply with international food law, appropriate food safety and Quality Management Systems based on Good Agricultural Practice and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point should be in place. This guarantees that all significant stages of crop production from 'farm to fork' are controlled to minimize food hazards.

A simple and reliable system to ensure that all aspects of food safety and quality management of production and harvesting are controlled and monitored is essential when supplying supermarkets. It should cover all operations on the farm where smallholders are in contact with the produce, from growing, harvesting, preparation, farm storage and transportation to the pack-house.

The cool chain principle of bringing down the temperature of the harvested product to its optimum level and maintaining the product at this temperature throughout the transport and marketing operation is vital. Throughout the process of production from field harvest to final despatch from the packhouse there should be continuous checking of the temperature of the product and the holding and transport facilities. Undue build-up of product temperatures can lead to deterioration of the product, which may not be apparent until it has arrived in the country of importation - at which point it is too late to take remedial action - leading to expensive losses.