Berry certification, Inspections & Supplier Audits

QC Tailored for the Berries Industry

Even in a well-managed produce supply chain, a product like berries can present a challenge. The firmness and appearance of the berries is crucial to the consumer’s decision to buy, especially since berries are often purchased on impulse, as a snack or as an addition to the shopping list. At the same time, berries are very delicate, highly perishable, and easily damaged, which makes proper quality control paramount at every stage between farm and shelf.

QIMA offers product inspections for your berry shipments, to help you ensure quality at every step and avoid rejections by retailers. We will monitor the state of your product immediately post-harvest, before shipping, and on arrival, giving you timely and reliable data to make informed decisions.

Berry Inspection Expertise

QIMA produce inspectors are highly trained specialists, with extensive experience in quality control and agriculture. Our quality control procedures follow detailed protocols, which combine your own specifications, relevant international regulations, and the requirements of your destination market. Our sampling processes strictly follow the guidelines and sampling plans prescribed by the World Health Organization Food Code, to ensure that the sample we collect is an objective representation of your shipment.

We offer the following checks to ensure that your berries are of appropriate quality, and properly prepared for transportation:

Quality check (ripeness, firmness, decay, mold, etc)
Weight and diameter check
Temperature control
Defects check (including amount and seriousness of defects)
Foreign object contamination

QIMA has experienced agronomical engineers inspecting many different kinds of berries and cherries, including:

Blueberries
Blackberries
Strawberries
Cranberries
Cherries

Supplier Audits

QIMA supplier audits keep you up to date on the safety and compliance status of your produce suppliers, helping you identify areas in need of improvement and take corrective action.

Ethical audits investigate your suppliers for social compliance, including working conditions and worker rights, helping you eliminate any instances of labor abuse from your produce supply chain.

Farm and greenhouse audits investigate areas of potential contamination during growing, including fertilizer usage, water usage and irrigation, pest control, harvest control, food security, the use of adjacent land, and employee safety & hygiene.

Harvest crew audits address the working practices, safety and hygiene of employees directly involved in food harvesting, and food security issues.

Food safety audits help ensure compliance throughout your food supply chain and improve your and your supplier’s quality management systems. QIMA offers hygiene audits (GHP), Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) audits for your fresh produce supply chain.

Certifications for the Berries Industry

QIMA, through our subsidiary QIMA/WQS, can audit your processes and systems against the requirements of applicable standards to achieve certification under the following schemes: