PROVIDING QUALITY FRUIT DAY IN DAY OUT,
INVOLVES MORE THAN JUST PLANTING AND PICKING 

At the Belgische Fruitveiling 90% of the fruit production is GLOBALGAP certified.

OUR FRUIT IS RELIABLE

Fruit from the BFV must be completely reliable. This is a sacrosanct principle for us. Therefore, all the fruit that is commercialised by us, complies with all applicable legal regulations and more than satisfies the prevailing and most stringent quality & hygiene control systems. The BFV complies with the GLOBALGAP, BRC, IFS and QS standards.

OUR GROWERS-COOPERATIVES ADHERE STRICTLY TO THE GLOBALGAP SPECIFICATIONS

All BFV growers grow according to the GLOBALGAP specifications, a quality system set up by European wholesale distributors that rests upon the following pillars:

• TRACING & REGISTRATION: both the plots of land, the crop-protection agents and the harvest are registered accurately. This means that the fruit can be traced with complete accuracy along every step of the way.
• INTEGRATED PRODUCTION: continuous efforts are made to maintain the natural balance in the orchard.
• HEALTH & SAFETY: we strive each day to ensure the health and safety of every employee.
• ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: it goes without saying that we aim to place the minimum burden on the environment.
• SELF-AUDITING & COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT: form the basis for continuous improvement.

ENVIRONMENTAL MINDED CULTURE:
NO ECONOMY WITHOUT ECOLOGY

In fact this is only logical because both share the same root ‘eco’ which derives from the Greek ‘oikos’ (‘house’ and, therefore, the environment around us). We advocate minimum pressure on the environment by integrated production methods. Integrated production is based on the natural balance in the orchard. To this end, the grower employs useful organisms against their natural enemies. Concrete examples: in a new planting, predatory mites are brought in. These spread themselves out liberally and feed on the eggs of the harmful red spider mite and rust mite. Aphids are eradicated by ladybirds and earwigs, caterpillars by birds, pear aphids by predatory bugs.

BRC, IFS & QS

To safeguard the quality, hygiene and food safety at the BFV itself, all activities at the auction are set up in compliance with the English BRC standard, the French-German IFS standard and the German QS system. As well as traditional auction activities, such as inspection, storage, buying and selling, other processes such as ULO cooling, pre-sorting and packing centre are also set up according to these standards. This is why the Belgische Fruitveiling attaches a lot of importance to the following pillars that are part of the day-to-day company policy.
• Continuous monitoring of the CCPs (Critical Control Points).
• A systematised residue monitoring plan.
• All BFV employees are aware of their responsibilities.
• All BFV products are traceable at every step both upstream and downstream.
• Corrective and preventive measures form the basis for continuous improvements at the BFV.

OUR FRUIT IS AN OPEN BOEK

When dealing with us, the consumer knows straightaway where the fruit has come from. We feel that this creates confidence. Our inspectors and computers provide a solid vehicle allowing complete transparency with regard to BFV fruit as it passes
through the entire process. Following a product from the beginning to the end, from grower to point of sale, requires a watertight registration system. As well as the classic tracing system, whereby origin and product features are registered by means of pallet-box cards, crate cards, plastic covers and labels, the BFV also has an integrated computer-controlled tracing system. With the modern supply registration system via Internet, all supplied pallets and pallet boxes are immediately identified upon arrival at the BFV with a label that has been given a unique barcode number (= SSCC - Serial Shipping Container Code). The origin (information on the grower), the time of delivery and the product features of each unique SSCC that is allocated are recorded in the central computer system. A wireless network connecting all BFV departments registers all movements of fruit and vegetables within the BFV via barcode scanners, up to the moment they are loaded by logistics employees. Thanks to this technology, upstream and downstream tracing at BFV is guaranteed at all times.

WE CONTROL OURSELVES AND HAVE OURSELVES CONTROLLED

Internal control
We subject our fruit to our own stringent controls throughout the whole process. Our inspectors check the fruit on delivery to the auction on the basis of product specifications for optical quality (colour, visible residue, strange objects), organoleptic quality (firmness, peel quality), correct identification (tracing) and packaging. Via a systematised residue monitoring plan, samples of the fruit are taken every day. They are analysed by an accredited laboratory. We also systematically take fruit samples upon entry and during storage in our ULO cold stores, which are then inspected in our own laboratory for firmness, sugar content, diameter, colour and taste. This is how we monitor our product at every stage and thanks to this, quality and food safety is ensured continuously and optimally.

External control
Both BFV growers and the BFV itself are regularly inspected and audited for correct compliance with GLOBALGAP, BRC, IFS & QS by accredited independent inspection bodies.

At the BFV we are convinced that CUSTOMER SATISFACTION can only be safeguarded by CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT of both the internal processes at the BFV and the cultivation processes at the BFV growers, day in day out.