“ IMPROVING QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE MINIMALLY-PROCESSED FRUIT AND VEGETABLES INDUSTRY OF THE EURO-MED AREA ”

1. MPFV in Spain 5th WORKSHOP “IMPROVING QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE MINIMALLY-PROCESSED FRUIT AND VEGETABLES INDUSTRY OF THE EURO-MED AREA” Profª. Mª TERESA SANCHEZ PINEDA DE LAS INFANTAS December, 2003 Brindisi, Italy Financial support by the Commission of the European Union under MEDA programme is acknowledged (Thematic Network ICA3-C5-2000-30004)

2. Reception Pre-Cooling Selection Cleaning/Washing Peeling/Cutting Special Treatments Reception Drying Management Packaging Packaging Refrigerated Storage Sale Sale Minimally processed fruits and vegetables Fresh fruits and vegetables

3. READY TO EAT

4. Minimally Processed Fruits and Vegetables in Spain • Were introduced in Spain in 1989, ten years later than in UK, Germany and France. • 1st Industry in the North of Spain: Navarre. • Marginal consumption. Now: 5% of all foodstuff consumption. • Annual consumption in Spain: 13,000 tonnes.

5. Key factors in MPFV in Spain • Quality of raw materials: cultivar selections. • Heat-shock treatments. • Effects of various chemicals. • Packaging materials. • Cold chain maintenance. • Deadline of the produce.

6. Minimally Processed Vegetables • Lettuces. • Carrots. • Tomatoes. • Potatoes. • Broccoli and Cauliflower. • Spinach. • Celery sticks. • Leek. • Baby carrots • Mixed salads. • Cabbage mixes.

7. Minimally Processed Fruits • Oranges. Varieties: Navelina y Navelate. • Apples. • Pears. • Kiwi. • Pineapple. • Melon. • Watermelon.

8. Packaging • Plastic Bags: Reduced prices and attractive for the consumers. Image: Natural product. Fresh-like quality. Single products and mixed salads. • Pots for mixed salads. • Trays covered with plastic films: More sophisticated. Some kind of manipulation. Refrigeration + MAP

9. MPFV INDUSTRIES IN SPAIN

10. Characteristics of standard industrial installations • 6,500 m2 . • Three main zones: • Reception Area. • Selection Area. • Washing, Cutting, Mixture and Packaging Area. • All zones under refrigeration conditions: 1-4ºC.

11. Changes in the MPFV industry in Spain • Increase of the refrigeration capacity in the industries. • Some innovations in the equipments: Unit operation of cutting. • Some improvements in the packaging area: packaging, weighting, and sealing.

12. Main Companies that produce Fruits and Vegetables for the MPFV industries in Spain • Verdifresh: Established in 2002. (Valencia). • Iceberg lettuce, Carrot, Four Season Salad, Parsley, Strips of onions, Beets, Spinach. • Primaflor: 2,000 ha in Andalusia: Granada and Almery. • Iceberg lettuce, Hearts of lettuce, Cherry Tomatoes, Watermelon, Asparagus, Diced Onion, Garlic and Celery.

13. FLORETTE Group

14. FLORETTE Group

15. FLORETTE GROUP

16. THE PRODUCT FAMILIES

17. FLORETTE GROUP Key figures

18. QUALITY IN THE MPFV INDUSTRY

19. Kernel Export, S.L.

22. THE PRODUCT FAMILIES: Kernel Group

23. THE PRODUCT FAMILIES: Kernel Group

24. THE PRODUCT FAMILIES: Kernel Group

25. Quality in the MPRFV Industry

26. GAVÁ GROUP

27. Gavá Group • The Group GAVÀ began its activities in 1.969 coming from a family business under the name FRUITES I HORTALISSES GAVÀ in Barcelona (Spain). • From this family business in the origin, other companies have been created becoming altogether the strong Group which represents nowadays GAVÀ. • The Group runs 7 salespoints, a cooling warehouse and a pre-packing plant in MERCABARNA and it is also involved in production through ARAIN the company of the Group which is located in the south of SPAIN. • GAVÀ in order to be strong in the European Market has stablished delegations in Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Baltic Republics and Holland, settlelling native commercial delegates and an excellent logistic organization capable to reach all countries from Center and Eastern Europe.

28. Gavá Group • In 1995 KOFTSALAD TRADE SL is established dedicated to the production of MPRFV. • ARAIN is the youngest company in the Group Gavà, located in Motril( Granada ), it was founded in 1996 with the purpose to supply the companies of the Group together with its own customers. ARAIN produces and manipulates fruits and vegetables from the area of Almery and Granada in a plant with the most advanced technology. • During 1.999 the Group has developed two more activities in order to improve the standard of service to customers. The first is related to import and it allows us to have a wider range of products to offer and the chance to offer some of them during the whole year. The second is that the Group is now suppling fresh products to passenger boats.

29. Gavá Group

30. Gavá Group

31. 125,000 tons of fresh fruits Refrigeration Capacity: 90,000 tons ACTEL GROUP (Lérida, Spain) Fresh-cut sector

33. Clients for Spanish MPFV • The Tourist Sectors: Hotels and Restaurants. Catering Services. Areas of Catalonia and Valencia. • Fast food Restaurants: Mc-Donalds, Burger Kind, Bocatta. • Food retailers. Supermarket chains: Carrefour, AlCampo, Eroski, Mercadona, El Corte Inglés. • Foreign Countries: United Kingdom and France. 20,000 tonnes. GAVÁ GROUP.

34. Advantages for the Spanish consumers • Labor Saver…Industry do it for you, from cutting, chopping, shredding, slicing and dicing fruits and vegetables to packing them off and delivering to your door with no mess on your part. • Safety Enhancer… you don't have to worry about the sanitary conditions under which your staff is preparing and packing in-house. Reduce workplace accidents and injuries and your insurance coverage costs by reducing your liability for food processed in-house under questionable conditions. • Shelf-Life Enhancer…you gain shelf-life by buying pre-cut processed in a temperature-controlled, sanitary environment. • Space-Saver…you don't have to provide additional workspace for your staff to prepare fresh-cut produce. • Staff Reducer…you don't have to hire additional staff to cut and pack produce, or add work hours to your existing staff to meet customer demand. • Waste Reducer…you don't have to pay for disposing of processing waste and paper, that's our expense!

35. Consumption in Spain • 52.9 kg/person. Fresh vegetables. • 88.1 kg/person. Fresh fruits. • 13.22 kg/person. Processed fruits and vegetables. • 24.8 kg/person. Fresh potatoes. • 0.65 kg/person. Frozen potatoes. • 2.53 kg/person. Table olives. • 12.02 kg/person. Fruit juices. Source: Ministry of Agriculture, 2001

36. Food Safety in MPFV • Suppliers required to pre-wash & sort all raw materials. • Full inspection of all raw materials upon arrival. • Good Manufacturing Practices followed in all facilities. • Production flow minimizes cross-contamination. • Temperature controlled processing, packing and storage rooms. • Extensive employee hygiene training. • HACCP System verified.

37. Problems associated with MPFV • Mesophilic aerobic microorganisms. Failures in the cold chain. • Presence of Listeria monocytogenes. • Rests of pesticides.

38. Mixed Salad

39. Research in Spain • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas • University of Navarre: Artichoke. • University of Valencia: Orange, Pears. • Aplicación de métodos combinados para el control del desarrollo del pardeamiento enzimático en pera (variedad Blanquilla) mínimamente procesada. (Pears). • Estudio del envasado de gajos frescos de mandarina en atmósfera modificada. (Mandarin oranges).

40. Regulations • Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organization of the markets in processed fruit and vegetable products. REGLAMENTO (CE) no 47/2003 de la Comisión, de 10 de enero de 2003, que modifica el anexo I del Reglamento (CE) no 2200/96 del Consejo (frutas y hortalizas) (DO L nº 7 de 11 de enero). • REAL DECRETO 290/2003, de 7 de marzo, por el que se establecen los métodos de muestreo para el control de residuos de plaguicidas en los productos de origen vegetal y animal. (BOE nº 58 de 8 de marzo de 2003). • REGLAMENTO (CE) no 408/2003 de la Comisión, de 5 de marzo de 2003, por el que se modifica el Reglamento (CE) no 1148/2001 sobre los controles de conformidad con las normas de comercialización aplicables en el sector de las frutas y hortalizas frescas (DO L nº 62 de 6 de marzo de 2003). • REAL DECRETO 118/2003, de 31 de enero, por el que se aprueba la lista de sustancias permitidas para la fabricación de materiales y objetos plásticos destinados a entrar en contacto con los alimentos y se regulan determinadas condiciones de ensayo (BOE nº 36 11 de febrero de 2003). • REGLAMENTO (CE) no 48/2003 de la Comisión, de 10 de enero de 2003, por el que se establecen las normas aplicables a las mezclas de frutas y hortalizas frescas de diferentes especies contenidas en un mismo envase de venta (DO L nº 7 de 11 de enero).

41. 5th WORKSHOP “IMPROVING QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE MINIMALLY-PROCESSED FRUIT AND VEGETABLES INDUSTRY OF THE EURO-MED AREA” Many thanks Profª. Mª TERESA SANCHEZ PINEDA DE LAS INFANTAS December, 2003 Brindisi, Italy Financial support by the Commission of the European Union under MEDA programme is acknowledged (Thematic Network ICA3-C5-2000-30004)