What happens to produce after harvest and on arrival at the packhouse?
We have seen how the technical and quality checks applied in the field are crucial to obtaining produce that, already at harvest, has the characteristics of an excellent product. These characteristics must match the criteria of the end consumer, who judges the product by what they see and taste.
At the same time, they must meet the technical and commercial requirements set by retailers and by the market in general, such as sugar content, size grade, absence of deformities and defects, and shelf life.
These characteristics are partly built into freshly harvested produce, but they can be lost if correct handling practices are not followed in the packhouse. These practices are simply the right way of working applied by the operators, who receive ongoing training on the effects of their actions and on how to work so as to comply, first of all, with hygiene and food safety rules and with the requirements of technical and commercial specifications.
Flow charts and specification sheets: every product follows its own controlled path
Each product is therefore covered by specific procedures drawn up by the company Quality Office, which define all the process and quality checks to be carried out before, during and after goods receipt, storage (in cold rooms or otherwise), handling, trimming, grading, packing, loading and transport. Together, these procedures make up the company quality management system and put its quality policy into practice.
Each product thus has its own identification document, the “product specification sheet”, which sets out trade names, growing methods, harvest periods, chosen ripeness indices, storage parameters, labelling and packaging, packing and presentation methods, commercial classes, size grading and tolerances, loading and transport.
Customers (wholesale markets and retailers) ask for this document to make sure that the product, and the way the company handles it, meet market requirements and therefore consumer expectations. Every single product follows a path known as the packing process, subject to strict checks in line with legal standards to guarantee food safety and hygiene.
