Veracruz’s conclusion of the GlobalGAP certification process represents another important step towards its expansion in foreign markets. The company has a current investment amounting to 50 million euros and its objective is to reach exports of around 80%, heavily investing in the British, German, French and Italian markets.
“This certification is really important for us, in as far as it demonstrates our production’s food safety and sustainability and covers the entire almond route, from field to shelf”, underlines David Carvalho, CEO and founder of Veracruz.
Farmers need this seal of excellence to sell to retailers and large chains, but also to export, as it meets the demands of the main global retailers.
In practice, GlobalGAP certification means that on the one hand, the product is safe for consumption, and on the other, the product was produced in compliance with certain criteria, such as food hygiene and safety, lower environmental impact, energy efficiency, water and waste management, use of fertilisers and workers’ welfare and safety, for example.
“When a consumer eats the almonds produced by Veracruz, they have the assurance that they are totally safe and that they were produced in compliance with the very highest standards of food safety. Equally, when a distributor or retailer is supplied with GlobalGAP certified almonds from Veracruz, they know that the certification provides them with a guarantee of receiving a safe product”, explains Liliana Perestrelo, executive director of Naturalfa, the certification company that monitored Veracruz’s process.
