EKOFOOD FACILITIES
Ekofood has 4 sites in Turkey. The frozen & chilled (site 1) product factory is 11000m2 including a 4000m2 closed area. Second one is Ekofoods’s canned & ambient food factory with pasteurization and sterilization abilities in addition to packing jars, tins, cans, pouches, doypack, PP Trays as well as other packing options. Third site is Ekofood’s logistics center which has a 15 000m2 capacity where we use only 3000-4000 m2 at this moment. The fourth site is Ekofood’s frozen warehouse located in Ercili, Turkey. This site is over 15000m2, and is where our frozen products are stored.
All facilities are built as per global HACCP norms (explained below) and all of them BRC certified.
What does BRC mean?
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is a trade association for the UK food retail industry created in 1992. The BRC has published standards for best practices for the food and manufacturing industries for two decades, and also publishes the On-Pack recycling standards for the UK.
With rapidly growing expectations from regulators, consumers, and retail outlets, companies must be more proactive in their approach to food safety practices. Food safety is of critical importance when working at any stage of the food supply chain to protect consumers, meet customer requirements, and to safeguard your brand. This is most important for Gurme212 products. They are BRC certified which assures safety of the product you consume. #eatsafe #livesafe
What is HACCP?
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) is an internationally recognized method of identifying and managing food safety related risk and, when central to an active food safety program, can provide your customers, the public, and regulatory agencies assurance that a food safety program is well managed. The HACCP system is used in all four of Ekofood’s sites.
These procedures also adhere to our farmers and suppliers. Ekofood’s food engineers audit all farms and suppliers to ensure that all products / ingredients used in our products have the accredited certifications.
Which products are HALAL?
Market research has shown that the demand for Halal products is increasing globally. This is also true in the Turkish food market. The major religion is Turkey is Islam which requires food products to be labelled as halal. Here at Ekofood we have over 50 products labelled as Halal, including our vegetable and fruit ranges. We particularly focus our certification for our products sold within the United States of America, as well as locally.
The term Halal is best translated to “permissible or lawful” and is particularly associated with dietary laws, with specific accordance to meat processing. Essentially, vegetarian cuisine is halal is if does not contain any alcohol.
At Ekofood, special ingredients are used in order to produce Halal products. For example, when adding vinegar to pickles or tomatoes, non-alcoholic vinegar is added.
Which products are KOSHER?
There are three main kosher food categories; Meat, Dairy and Pareve (neutral) for foods that are not meat or dairy, including fish, eggs, and plant-based foods.
As of 2020, Ekofood has over 25 products that have received Kosher certification.
Pareve food items are considered neutral and may be eaten alongside either meat or dairy. However, if a pareve food item is prepared or processed using any equipment used to process meat or dairy, it may be reclassified as meat, dairy, or non-kosher. There is a restricted rule about using the Kosher Logo on the labels. The process of having a product labelled as kosher is an extraneous process that relies heavily by an onsite audit of the facility / site in question, followed by external testing. Yearly audits are also performed in order for the products to maintain Kosher certification.
How to get EU ORGANIC?
Since Ekofood sells its products globally, we are interested in the food regulations and systems of each country. But selling organic products is requiring of special certifications. Organic food is the product of a farming system which avoids the use of man-made fertilizers, pesticides; growth regulators and livestock feed additives. Irradiation and the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or products produced from or by GMOs are generally prohibited by organic legislation. Organic certification has different rules for each country. From seed to plant, from plant to fruit, you should save the organic chain to achieve organic product.
What is special with USDA ORGANIC?
If you want to sell Organic Products to the USA, you have to obey certain rules while producing them. The National Organic Program (NOP) develops these rules & regulations for the production, handling, labeling, and enforcement of all USDA organic products. This process, referred to as rulemaking, involves input from the National Organic Standards Board and the public.
Here at Ekofood, we have obtained both the EU Organic Certificate, as well as the USDA Organic Certificate. We have over 20 products with both certifications.
What is SEDEX and social responsibility?
Both large and developing companies have to obey some rules related to labor rights, social and environmental responsibilities. Ekofood has a system that regulates these manners called Smeta 4 Pillar (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) and we are well implementing these rules for our workers.
SMETA is an audit methodology, providing a compilation of best practice ethical audit techniques. It is designed to help auditors conduct high quality audits that encompass all aspects of responsible business practice, covering Sedex’s four pillars of Labour, Health and Safety, Environment and Business Ethics.
We try to teach this system to all our supply chain, from farmers to packaging suppliers, to maintenance services.