MeasuresWith the Günaydin Group always on the safe side
For several years now, food safety has been much sensationalized in the news. A reporting style that leaves much to be desired has placed the entire sector under suspicion. The result is insecurity among consumers and a general impression that the food industry is neither particularly eager nor interested to address the issue. As a matter of principle, well-balanced reporting about food safety is of prime importance and certainly welcome.
Since 2003, food safety and consumer protection have been the top-priority issues at our company. We asked ourselves: “How can we assure our customers the highest quality, reliable food safety and consumer protection along with the best possible service? Our answer: Full control of every link in the food production chain from the field to the customer. As a full-service provider we control every stage of the process from cultivation to harvesting, processing, packaging, transport and distribution, as well as all their interfaces. This assures us direct involvement in the entire production process.
Our motto, company policy and philosophy are focused on food safety and consumer protection. This approach is not an end in itself but a means to an end.
In line with this approach we decided to set a sign in quality and in 2004 applied for certification in accordance with GLOBALGAP, the DIN ISO EN 9001:2000 quality management system and the International Food Standard, IFS.
In 2004, as one of the first companies in Turkey, Günaydin introduced and successfully implemented a new model in agriculture - Contract Farming. Under this model, selected farmers grow our products under constant supervision and in close cooperation with our company on their own land.
However, our concern for food safety does not end there; we also maintain an intensive dialogue with pesticide producers and have initiated a pilot project that brings together contract farmers and their employees, agro-engineers and pesticide manufacturers.
Together we have established a project and action plan designed to monitor and document the effects of the pesticides used. We monitored the time it takes for every individual pesticide concentration to drop below the MRL values permitted in Germany and the time it takes until the fruits are entirely free of residues.
As a result of this pilot project, we were able to reduce the quantity of pesticides to less than half that of previous practices.
