Quality and food safety; one of Lasenor's main goals
Instilling a culture of quality and food safety is one of the most important challenges that Lasenor has always kept in mind in its business management.
This commitment is demonstrated by the 11 certificates currently held by the company, which guarantee compliance in its full product range according to standards of quality, safety, sustainability, organic production, traceability of non-genetically modified organisms, etc.
Each one of these certificates is evidence of Lasenor’s commitment to the regulatory requirements demanded by the food sector and its clients.
A question of culture
“Getting everyone who works at Lasenor to be able to combine their job activities with the shared tasks of ensuring the quality and safety of food is the big challenge we are currently facing,” says Meritxell Arenas, Lasenor’s Quality Director.
The development and implementation of a culture of quality and food safety is a comprehensive task, involving all departments and employees of a company, as well as its own suppliers and customers. Its objective is to achieve the greatest efficiency and flexibility in all the company’s procedures, in order to obtain the highest quality of its products and services. This allows the most demanding needs of its customers to be satisfied.
As one of the company’s main values, a culture of quality and food safety enables companies to develop an internal process of continuous improvement. In addition, to improve their competitiveness externally and be a distinguishing aspect in national and international markets.
Quality assurance
At Lasenor, the the Quality Assurance Department is responsible for managing and supervising quality and food safety systems and other implemented standards.
This department works on tasks such as the approval of suppliers, customer service, answering product and company questionnaires, as well as cleaning management, food defense, food fraud, audits, preventive maintenance, worker training in hygiene and best practices, along with a long list of additional activities (such as continuous improvement projects) that are carried out in coordination and collaboration with other departments.
Another activity carried out by the Quality Assurance Department is the follow-up and analysis of incidents, whether they are related to products, raw materials, processes or services. This process makes it possible to analyze the cause, as well as establish corrective actions to prevent these incidents from recurring and to achieve greater efficiency in all processes and departments.
In order to evaluate compliance with national and international quality standards, the implemented standards are audited by a team of internal multidisciplinary auditors. They identify any non-compliance and, together with the different managers of each department, establish corrective actions to solve them. Likewise, audits are also carried out by external accredited bodies which issue a certificate as a guarantee that Lasenor complies with all the specific requirements of each required standard.
Our certifications
Currently, Lasenor has certifications that accredit its quality assurance system and organic production, in addition to the certifications related to compliance with dietary regulations and religious consumption practices.
Lasenor has the following certifications for its quality assurance system;
- FSSC 22000 (Food Safety System Certification), food safety management certification.
- ISO 22000, food safety management system.
- GMP+ (Good Manufacturing Practice System), quality assurance in the manufacture of animal feed products.
- Identity Preserved Non-GMO Soy, certification that guarantees lecithin made from non-GMO soybeans.
- RSPO, certification that guarantees the use of sustainably grown palm oil.
- ProTerra, a standard of social responsibility and environmental sustainability that guarantees the use of sustainably sourced soybeans.
In terms of organic certifications, Lasenor has the following:
- CCPAE (Consell Català de Producció Agrícola) which is the European public control authority accredited for the certification of organic production. This certification guarantees that the products have been manufactured following the rules of organic agriculture and that they have been checked throughout the process of production, processing, packaging and marketing.
- ECOCERT, from the National Organic Program (NOP), an accreditation that allows the marketing of organic products in the United States.
Moreover, in the environmental field, Lasenor works with Ecovadis and Sedex platforms for external verification of our commitments to labor rights, health and safety, environmental and business ethics activities.
Finally, with regard to religious diversity in the food sector, Lasenor holds Kosher and Halal certificates. The former is audited annually by a Rabbi to ensure compliance with Jewish dietary standards. The latter is also audited by the Islamic Board annually to attest compliance with the regulations for the use of the Halal Guarantee Mark.
Likewise, as Lasenor works with allergenic products such as gluten, soy and allergens, as well as animal derivatives such as milk, the company has implemented various measures to avoid cross-contamination with products that do not contain these allergens or animal derivatives. These measures enable the company to guarantee that its products are suitable for coeliacs, vegetarians, vegans and people who are lactose intolerant.
Customer satisfaction
Customers continue to place their trust in Lasenor for safe and quality products. This can be seen from the positive results obtained from the indicators implemented by the Quality Assurance Department during the last year, such as customer complaints, returns, along with the reports and audits carried out by the customers themselves at our facilities.
In addition to managing these type of incidents, the quality and food safety system implemented by Lasenor also allows us to detect other weaknesses and turn them into opportunities for continuous improvement.
