Field to Fork - Freshway Foods

Your fresh produce solution. Our passion.
Field to Fork:
A Comprehensive Approach to Quality and Food Safety
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................3
Growing Practices.......................................................................................................................................................4
Sourcing Teams........................................................................................................................................................... 5
Processing Practices...................................................................................................................................................6
Produce Tracking.........................................................................................................................................................8
Food Science Education...........................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................................10
Field to Fork Quality & Food Safety
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Introduction
Freshway Foods is a fresh fruit and vegetable processor, repacker, distributor, and logistics provider
focusing on customized product and service solutions to a customer base that spans the eastern
half of the United States.
As one of the largest regional processors of fresh fruit and vegetables, we are able to offer a wide
range of value-added products and services to meet the growing needs of our customers, including:
•
Fresh cut fruit and vegetables
•
Deli salad kits
•
Tomato repacking
•
Breaks and splits
•
Logistics services
In addition to processing fresh fruit and vegetables, Freshway Foods also provides forward
distribution, transportation and logistics services to our customers and to the perishable food
industry.
At Freshway Foods, we believe quality and food safety begin in the field and do not end until our
products reach the consumer. This report discusses the various components of our comprehensive
approach to quality and food safety, from field to fork.
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Growing Practices
Field-to-fork quality and food safety begins in the field. Freshway Foods enjoys long-term
partnerships with many of our growers, some of which have done business with the company since
its founding in 1988. We have contracted commitments with our growers on romaine, lettuce,
onions, tomatoes, celery, cabbage, peppers, cucumbers and apples.
Through our grower partnerships, we are able to spend significant time in the fields, inspecting
product and ensuring our growers are following the most stringent quality and food safety practices
and procedures.
We utilize our extensive food safety experience to conduct in-field risk
assessments. We ensure our growers are following up on corrective
actions from previous audits, and that the proper HACCP plans are in
place for any new processes.
We require growers of key commodities to participate in industry
associations that work with growers to reduce food safety issues. For
example, all of our lettuce and romaine growers are required to be
members of the Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement, an organization
focused on reducing potential sources of contamination in the field.
In Florida, our tomato growers are required to join the Florida Tomato
Growers Association, an organization that has developed in-state
food safety protocols that all growers must follow. We are committed
to ensuring our growers follow all applicable local, state and national
food safety guidelines.
Inspecting Romaine Quality
Our growers participate in GLOBALG.A.P. audits, a
single audit standard that applies to all commodities,
and is based on a set of voluntary guidelines jointly
developed by industry associations and the world’s
largest auditing organizations. Separate audits may
be conducted on the ranch, the harvest crew, the
repack house, the cooler and other areas, depending
on the commodity. These audits are conducted by
third party auditors. Freshway is a Primus Platinum
customer, and our audit information is accessible
from the Primus website.
Romaine field inspection
Field to Fork Quality & Food Safety
We require pathogen testing to be done in the field
for all leafy greens.
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Sourcing Teams
At Freshway Foods, we utilize sourcing teams
for field inspections at our growers’ facilities. The
teams inspect product growing in the fields on a
monthly basis, and check the development of the
product, including the root structure, sturdiness
of the product, seed varieties, and wet dates, all of
which help determine when the product is ready
for harvest. The teams also inspect our suppliers’
packing and shipping operations.
Our sourcing teams utilize field inspections to
Sourcing Team in Action
determine the ideal time to transition from one
growing area to another. For example, twice per
year our sourcing teams make the decision when to transition romaine and iceberg lettuce between
Yuma and Salinas Valley in order to provide our customers the highest possible quality product.
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Processing Practices
Freshway Foods operates a 100,000 square foot production and distribution facility in Sidney, Ohio.
We utilize the latest technology to guarantee the quality and safety of our products.
We require seals on all incoming material shipments, to ensure product has not been adulterated
en route in any way. We perform incoming inspection on all shipments. Our receiving inspection
associates have completed training in the USDA Incoming Inspection School, and they inspect
condition and quality attributes, which are scored, and feedback is provided to suppliers.
After inspection, raw materials are stored at the proper temperature, depending on commodity.
We utilize a warm cooler for products that would suffer chill damage at colder temperatures, as
well as ethylene producers that could affect the quality of other products. All other products are
stored in a cold environment to preserve shelf life and product quality.
We inject all incoming water with chlorine
dioxide (ClO2) as the first stage of our
antimicrobial efforts. This not only protects
our products, but also prevents the build-up of
biofilm inside the facility’s plumbing.
We constantly monitor our flume chemistry
using automated equipment. Our quality
assurance associates perform back-up checks
every hour with strips, probes or titrations. We
measure pH, oxidation reduction potential
(ORP), free chlorine and total chlorine.
We monitor temperature of our flumes and our
finished product.
Freshway Quality Assurance Technician Prepares
Equipment for Microbial Testing
We utilize an ammonia refrigeration system that monitors temperatures throughout our production
and distribution facility. The system utilizes a call-out feature that notifies our associates about any
issues that affect proper temperature maintenance.
Our shippers pulp finished product before it is loaded onto our refrigerated trailers, and they check
the trailer temperatures before loading to ensure correct refrigeration. Our drivers double-check
set points and ambient temperatures before leaving our facility. We utilize a tri-color seal program
that identifies when loads are complete and ready to go.
We have a full environmental plan in place. We test for Listeria on a weekly basis, and Salmonella on
a monthly basis. We conduct air monitoring with agar plates, and flume monitoring with Petrifilm.
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We sanitize our facility every night. Our pre-operations plan includes both visual and Adenosine
triphosphate (ATP) testing.
Our facility is GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) certified using the SQF (Safe Quality Food
institute) Level 2 platform. As part of our certification, we are required to complete training and
knowledge-based testing. We conduct this training in multiple languages in order to ensure
compliance by all of our associates.
Our quality assurance associates use iPads for real-time monitoring of quality and food safety
conditions. The chlorine dioxide feeds on our romaine lines are connected to the world wide web,
enabling our associates to monitor from anywhere in the world, and add chlorine or citric acid as
needed using their iPads.
We installed a GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) room with a hand washing station in our
facility to ensure associates were washing their hands according to SQF requirements. The hand
washing station is certified for 1-1/2 microbial reduction. We have also installed hand wash
stations and foot foamers at every entrance into our production area.
We issue fresh raw material to the production
line every day. We perform microbial testing
of incoming raw materials, then retest the
product after processing as finished goods
to validate our antimicrobial procedures are
working. We have installed both hand dip
and knife dip stations for use by production
associates to use as needed.
We operate our own fleet maintenance
facility, which performs tractor and trailer
cleaning. We wash and sanitize the inside of
our trailers.
Freshway Foods Associates Demonstrate GMP Requirements
Freshway Foods associates wear protective
apparel to prevent contamination of our products. Hair nets, beard nets (where applicable)
and bump caps are required in all production and distribution areas of the facility. Production
associates are also required to wear smocks, gloves, and shoe covers or boots. Some associates
are also required to wear sleeve covers. Goggles and masks are available for those associates who
choose to wear them. Bump caps are color-coded for identification purposes.
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Produce Tracking
Freshway Foods processes over 100 million pounds of fresh produce annually, all of which can be
traced from the farm where it was grown to delivery to the customer. Our produce tracking system
conforms to parameters of the Produce Traceability Initiative (PTI).
We conduct four mock recalls each year to test our ability to trace produce from the farm to our
customers.
All incoming materials are labeled at receipt with a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) which is linked
to the purchase order and starts our GTIN compliance. The labels are color coded to indicate what
day of the week the material was received. Additional data is added to the GTIN number at every
stage of production, through shipment to the customer.
In the event that we need to track an item, we are able to trace its progress from the field where it
was grown through our facility and delivery to our customer.
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Food Science Education
Freshway Foods has established a food science education program, through which key members
of the company’s operations management will earn Certificates in Food Systems Management
from Wright State University. Through a partnership with the university, Freshway associates
attend classes at the company’s headquarters in Sidney, Ohio, and at Wright State University’s Lake
Campus in Celina, Ohio.
“We’ve had the opportunity to partner with Wright State and we see immediate and sustained
benefits in the program. Freshway supported the development of the curriculum, sees tremendous
value in it, and has integrated the program as part of our overall strategy. It’s a win-win situation
that gives our leaders additional skills and provides a significant benefit to our organization and
our customers,” said Tony Arnold, Director of Human Resources for Freshway Foods.
The program is part of the company’s overall goal of producing the highest quality produce in the
industry. “We make these investments to protect the people who eat our food,” said Phil Gilardi,
company President. “Our customers trust us to provide a fresh, wholesome, safe, healthy product,
and these associates are learning practical skills they will put to use every day in making our quality
products,” Gilardi added.
Students in the Food Science Program
complete a balanced program of study, with
courses ranging from Food Microbiology and
Food Chemistry to Management topics such
as Personnel Management, Business Finance,
and Leadership. The courses are tailored to
allow opportunities for Freshway employees
to upgrade technical and leadership skills
in their current jobs. Amy Marshall, a Zone
Manager at Freshway Foods said, “I’m
appreciative of the opportunity Freshway has
provided me to take Food Science classes at
Wright State. The online portion is conducted
in a conference room at Freshway and the
lab is at the WSU Lake Campus. The classes
have been very practical, relevant to the
industry, and provide great skills for career
development.”
Field to Fork Quality & Food Safety
Freshway Foods associates Jeff Free and Amy Marshall complete
lab activities at Wright State University’s Lake Campus
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Conclusion
We continue to research new technology that will enable us to continue providing the safe,
wholesome food our customers trust us to provide. Company leadership reviews the results of our
quality and food safety initiatives on a regular basis, and employees at all levels of the company
take pride in our efforts.
We will continue to lead our industry in developing new technology and systems for maintaining
food safety and product quality during growing, harvesting, transporting and processing.
Proudly Serving You for Over 25 Years
Freshway Foods • 800.497.1566 • www.freshwayfoods.com • Sidney, Ohio