- The Valencian company obtains a score of 93.21% after passing the rigorous audit in its gastronomic production centre
- Food safety and quality management, elaboration and hygiene practices, product hazards and risks, and compliance with legal and customer requirements, are some of the points implemented to achieve the certification
Gourmet Catering & Events obtains the IFS Progress Food international certification after the initial audit carried out by the auditor of the standard, carried out in its facilities located in the town of Picanya. The gastronomic group has been working since November to obtain this quality seal that certifies that both its facilities and its procedures comply with the required international quality standards.
Paula Campillo, head of quality and food safety at the company, joined Gourmet six years ago with the aim of ensuring food safety and the optimisation of protocols and, since November, she has been fine-tuning everything to obtain this certification in record time. «We are very pleased to receive the IFS Progress Food seal, with a percentage of 93.21%, which is a very high score and gives our clients a guarantee of excellence.» shares the professional with a degree in veterinary medicine and food science and technology.
The IFS Progress Food is a quality seal, recognised by the global organisation Global Food Safety Initiative, which guarantees the quality and safety of companies in the food and consumer goods supply chain. It is considered one of the most demanding certifications in food safety and it is necessary to obtain a percentage higher than 75% in the audit to obtain it.
To achieve this, Gourmet Catering has strictly incorporated new procedures in its day-to-day operations, such as the registration of all persons entering and leaving the centre, the protocol for product withdrawal and recovery, whereby in the event of a health alert, the removal and destruction of the product can be managed quickly and efficiently to avoid causing damage to diners, or the incident management procedure, whereby if there is a complaint from the customer about product quality problems, a company crisis committee will meet to find a solution.
Other procedures that have also been implemented are the monthly checklist for the facilities, checking their maintenance and hygiene and placing great emphasis on the perfect state of hard plastics and glass, and the control of physical hazards, where all breakable elements susceptible to contaminate other elements are examined.
«Food safety is a priority for us and we have our own department and management committee to deal with all food safety issues. The catering sector has a responsibility to look after the health and well-being of its diners, and we will continue to work to ensure that this is the case.» says Raquel Vicent Bezjak, general manager of Gourmet Catering & Eventos.
International events
Gourmet has a high percentage of international corporate clients, who come to the city for its potential as a meeting tourism destination, thanks to its sustainable, committed and diverse character, which reinforces its positioning as European Green Capital in 2024.
The company has been implementing and improving sustainable practices in its daily activity for years, including the creation of menus with local and seasonal products, the use of reusable materials and utensils and the fight against food waste through an innovative system based on blockchain technology that monitors donations of surplus food derived from its activity.