Enterprise Business Systems Play Role in Organic Product Manufacturing

Another fact consumers may not realize is that varying levels of organic USDA certifications have been established and can appear on a retail product’s organic label. These USDA seal designations are based on the ability of a manufacturer to establish a record keeping audit trail that certifies that organically produced foods have been processed and handled according to organic standards. Organic labeling of a processed food product is also dependent on the manufacturer’s ability to demonstrate that a product contains an allowable majority of organic ingredients, based on organic ingredient thresholds of 70%, 95%, or 100% of the total processed organic food product ingredient list.

Stringent Standards

It is also important to note the impact of the recent rise in market awareness of food product recalls. The resulting increase in public scrutiny of the food industry has led to an ongoing evaluation of the auditability of sourcing, handling, manufacturing, and labeling best practices and processing procedures from growers and harvesters, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. This work is intended to reassure consumers of the safety of our food sources.

Beginning in 1990 with the introduction of organic product certification guidelines as part of the Organic Foods Production Act, the USDA further established a new level of standards and guidance in 1992 as part of the National Organic Program Standards. These standards describe the necessary best practices for adherence to current stringent certification regulations. As they continue to evolve, the standards will be enforced for consumer product manufacturers in relation to the ongoing handling and monitoring of food products, including the sourcing, production, preparation and processing, warehousing, and accurate quality labeling disclosure of organic products.

But it is also a well-recognized fact among brand owners and food manufacturers that public opinion regarding food quality and related health concerns sets a higher standard of expectation than even the USDA’s current regulatory levels of compliance. Commitment based on consumer perception may be especially important for organic food companies, which must provide the proper ingredient sourcing, material handling, controlled processing, quality testing, accurate record keeping, and labeling disclosure all the way from field to table.

Amid calls for improving quality and alleviating related safety concerns surrounding food product recalls over the last few years, consumer response has placed accountability squarely on the shoulders of brand owners. And organic food brand owners have reacted by placing strict quality and procedural mandates on their own food processing plants, ingredient suppliers, and private label food processors to adhere to their own internal best practices. They are ensuring that the appropriate controls are in place and in a constant and ready state as part of supplier audits and contracted terms for payment. This is especially true with regard to retracing organic handling activities, product processing, and quality test results at any point in time.

Participating members of the organic food supply chain understand that they face this added responsibility, and this knowledge makes it paramount for today’s growers, ingredient suppliers, value-added organic food manufacturers, and supply chain storage facilities and transporters to have formal systems in place to support both one-up and one-back traceability. These systems ensure compliance with regulatory controls and meet consumer expectations at the same time, thus enabling the successful delivery of organic food products to both retail and food service U.S. markets.

Protection and Certification

Another trend affecting the delivery of organic food products in today’s market is the general reshaping of trading partner relationships taking place throughout the food manufacturing industry. New contractual agreements among brand owners, ingredient suppliers, and private label, third party food processors blur the traditional lines of engagement in an effort to lower the cost of delivering food products to market. For example, fresh food ingredient suppliers are outsourcing grower contracts to third party farmers and ranchers in order to provide a consistent volume and quantity at an agreed price. This is happening just as brand owners of processed food products have discovered they can better extend their production capacity by authorizing food processing outside their own plants.