Primavera holds its growers to the strictest food safety standards. From the fields to our packing facility, we go above and beyond the California food safety laws to ensure our products are of the highest quality and safe when they are purchased by the consumer. Food safety is more than a set of rules, it is an integral part of our philosophy at Primavera Marketing. Each grower, manager and pack-line employee is responsible for upholding the proper sanitation, hygiene and safe handling practices they are trained to use.
Our Food Safety Program integrates GFSI, GAP, GMP and HAACP programs:
- Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is the umbrella collaborative that includes multiple recognized food safety programs. GFSI is the body that sets the criteria for food safety and management systems and benchmarks the assurance standards.
- Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) are guidelines established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help minimize microbial food safety hazards for fresh fruits and vegetables.
- The key components of GAP guidelines are sanitation, employee health and hygiene, transportation of products, proper handling of chemicals and traceability. Our employees and supervisors are kept up-to-date on the most recent improvement in GAP Guidelines and trained in all aspects of good agricultural practices..
- Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are FDA guidelines established for the processing and packaging of food products, whose key components are very similar to GAP. Fresh tree fruits, specifically apples and cherries, packed in their simplest forms are considered to be raw agricultural commodities by the USDA and do not fall under FDA guidelines. However, we have applied GMP to the handling and packaging of fresh whole fruits to assure safe, wholesome and high quality fruit for our valued customers.
- Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a systematic approach to assessing possible risks associated with a product and determining the controls necessary to eliminate the risks of causing illness or injury.
With Global G.A.P. (a GFSI benchmarked assurance standard), GMP, and HAACP certifications held by the packing facility for cherries, apples and walnuts, food safety is a top priority for us. All of our growers are working toward GFSI recognized certifications of their own with many already GFSI certified. At Primavera, we are committed to excellence in everything we do, and because of our commitment to our consumers our customers can rest assured that our products are safe.
Certifications
- Global G.A.P. Certified v.3 – 2011
- Global G.A.P. Certified v.4 – 2012
- HAACP – 2011
- TESCO Audit – 2011
- SCS GMP – 2011
Primavera growers are on the cutting edge of food safety and traceability. In 2011, our growers took part in a new system of electronic pesticide reporting for all applications of insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. In an effort to produce the safest fruits and nuts our growers are revolutionizing the monitoring of MRL levels and pesticide use in the agriculture industry.