Andrésy Confitures renews its IFS Food certification: the jam manufacturer guarantees reliability, traceability and adaptability with absolute confidence!

“International Featured Standard (IFS) is an audit framework, created in 2003, that certifies suppliers of food products to private labels. It is based on the ISO 9001 standard and the HACCP system. It is similar to ISO 22000, which deals with food safety management.”

“This standard applies to suppliers at all stages of food processing, it serves as an assessment of the certification of systems to ensure food safety and the quality of food production. It includes 325 specific points on food manufacturing and control, quality management, HACCP, building, traceability.”

In practical terms, what does it mean for a jam manufacturer and what guarantees does it offer to brands and consumers opting for an IFS-certified manufacturer?

An IFS audit lasts three days and is renewed every year. It is carried out by a certified auditor, who is a specialist in certain agri-food areas.

The auditor begins by reviewing management’s commitments to the company, its employees and customers. They question senior management on its values and methods.

Then they audit the quality system as a whole: the actions, checks and monitoring in the field for 1 day to 1.5 days depending on the size of the company and the products manufactured. They ask each person about their work, their role in production and the risks associated with their work on the product. They also carefully examine all the documentation and verifications that must be scrupulously recorded and archived.

This year the waste management system and environmental management played a very important role during the audit. Andrésy Confitures sorts all production and packaging waste, including electronic waste. All members of the family business were trained in waste management in 2018

A crucial point of IFS has always been traceability, from the picker to the consumer’s basket. This year also focused on food fraud with the assessment of fraud risks for each raw material and supplier. Each jam manufacturer must assess fraud risks as well as risks related to suppliers and the country of origin. An action plan must be put in place if a significant risk is detected, with a request for enhanced traceability.

Lastly, it carries out an initial assessment of the 325 points raised and noted, with a request for urgent rectification if a point is considered critical, or for compliance within a given time frame for an item that requires improvement.

A few days later, the jam manufacturer receives either an overall score with an improvement plan for the year or certification refusal if the discrepancies are too significant.

IFS Food certification is a guarantee of safety and trust between the jam producer and its customers insofar as both consumers and brands are safe in the knowledge that:

• Each person involved in the jam manufacturing process is aware of their responsibilities and the effects of their actions, from the taking delivery of packaging and ingredients to the dispatch of orders, including all stages of production.
• Traceability is ensured, for each product that enters the company, be it plain packaging or a key ingredient.
• Food safety is observed by all, at every stage of production.
• All monitoring information is recorded and archived, making it retrievable on request and within a few hours.
• Environmental and social commitments are made, shared and monitored: workstation ergonomics, safety rules, compliance of machines and buildings.

The family-run SME specialised in top-of-the-range and tailor-made jams is proud to announce that this year again, and for four years in a row now, it received a score of 96.34. This rating indicates that all the requirements of the standard are met and performed at an extremely satisfactory level!

Operators can now enjoy peace of mind and be proud when they see the auditor arrive. The auditors also noted an exceptionally strong level of commitment from the staff: all the operators were cheerful, knew their job, and were able to answer questions.

The jam manufacturer has demonstrated a steady and continuous technical development: with investments and machine renewals, better data feedback through the use of computer systems at all levels for which everyone has been trained, a layout of the working areas that facilitates general working ergonomics and better production conditions.

In a nutshell, we ensure close monitoring of production, which is useful in real time for operations and for all safety checks, batch approval and yield. When you are specialised in making tailor-made products, you must be the best!

The entire quality system at Andrésy Confitures is closely linked to its CSR commitments: in 2019, the purchasing policy was put in the spotlight. It is established in line with an environmental policy that aims to maintain biodiversity and pledges to refuse to buy certain products if they do not comply with the purchasing charter.
Andrésy Confitures is proud to announce that, in 2019, more than 75% of its fruit supplies are French!