Carezzo is a new food brand based in Helmond, the Netherlands. This company markets protein-enriched basic foods, such as juices, soups, bread, pastry, ice cream and meals for people with special nutritional needs, i.e. elderly people or people recovering from hospital treatment. Carezzo Nutrition makes enables this with carefully formulated recipes to get enough protein to promote recovery and to support a balanced diet. The company’s mission is therefore to work from the experience of fresh food and beverages in which enjoying good food and beverages is key and thereby supports health.
Through certification, Carezzo Nutrition wanted to demonstrate that it delivers quality products. It is very important to guarantee 100% quality and food safety of their products for this vulnerable target group. Précon was brought in for the substantive expertise.
The Challenge
First of all, we looked at which standard would best suit Carezzo Nutrition. In consultation with Carezzo, the IFS Broker standard was chosen. This standard offers room for innovation and development, but also guarantees the quality of all production partners. In addition, the standard is in line with their current markets, such as Germany, Switzerland and Denmark, and provides room for exporting to other regions as well.
The Appoach
In order to meet the requirements of the standard, Précon has set up a quality management system. Together with the HACCP team, we looked at the products and product groups at Carezzo Nutrition. A HACCP study was then carried out and the quality manual was set up. Consultant Bas Moolenschot supported Carezzo Nutrition in this process and says the following about it: “We have ensured that the manual is as ‘lean’ as possible, based on the principle that the standard is met.” This has led to a good result : in July 2019, Carezzo Nutrition obtained IFS Broker higher level certification.
Précon currently visits Carezzo Nutrition several times a year for support with activities that are part of the quality management system, such as annual verification, internal audits and HACCP team support. One of the HACCP team members took the Précon e-learning course on the basics of HACCP. Twan Verstegen explains: “The great thing about e-learning is that you can determine when to take it, and really focus. The explanation is to the point and very educational. I am now of added value to our HACCP team.”
Précon also acts as a sparring partner for Carezzo Nutrition, among other things for the application of new legal requirements, amendments to the standard and other developments related to quality management. Wim van Cuijk: “We often contact Précon for questions or advice. We recently had a number of labels checked for legal requirements regarding claims in various countries. “”
All in all, a very pleasant cooperation that we would like to continue for a long time.
