Inspection and certification business Efsis is aiming to open new offices in Argentina and Brazil this year as it ramps up its international expansion plans.
The offices will cover plants supplying local and export markets, said Efsis marketing and international operations director Paul Ruocco: “There is major growth in beef and chicken in these areas, which means opportunities for us both in terms of farm audits and audits of processing facilities, and we want to be there to capitalise on that.”
Plants supplying the UK market were working to meet BRC Global Standards, while those supplying other markets were working towards the International Food Standard, favoured by retailers in Germany and France, and increasingly by those in Italy and Spain, said Ruocco.
“We are also accredited to inspect companies to meet the new ISO22000 standard, although only Scandinavian retailers currently recognise this at the moment.”
Given that there seemed to be no immediate prospect of co-ordination between standards bodies to create one global standard for food production facilities, manufacturing plants supplying multiple markets were increasingly having to comply with a whole raft of different standards, said Ruocco. “Some plants are getting audited every two weeks.” However, Efsis inspectors could reduce the burden by combining multiple audits when they visited plants, he said.
Efsis was also picking up new business in the supply chain assurance arena, he said. “This is a major growth opportunity. We have recently been working with Kellogg on this, looking at its specifications and checking its ingredients suppliers to ensure that claims cam all be verified.”
Other business had come from the development of a new standard called Safe & Legal, which ensures compliance with food safety regulations and relevant legislation, while applying a “common-sense approach” specifically designed for small operators, he added. “There has been interest from producers in the UK and companies in Thailand, where we set up offices last year.”
A new premium Gold standard launched last year was attracting interest from major branded suppliers trying to up their game, he claimed. “We did our second Gold audit last month.”
Efsis’s new owner SAI Global Group, which has offices in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and North America, would help Efsis build a presence in new markets as part of its mission to become the word’s leading inspection and certification body in the food and drink industry, said Ruocco.