InspiraFarms joins the membership of the GLOBALG.AP community

The GLOBALG.A.P. Community Membership and InspiraFarms are pleased to announce that InspiraFarms has become an associate member of the GLOBALG.A.P. Community Membership. This membership will combine GLOBALG.A.P. and InspiraFarms’ objective to have a positive impact on global problems faced by agricultural supply chains, with the goal of providing safe food for all.   

The GLOBALG.A.P. is theworld’s leading farm assurance program, translating consumer requirements into Good Agricultural Practice, with a rapidly growing list of countries – currently 134 countries. It is a trademark and a set of for safe, socially and environmentally responsible farming practices to benefit farmers, retailers and consumers throughout the world. Many companies now require GLOBALG.A.P. certification as part of their supplier management system, adopting the standard opens farms and agribusinesses up to more potential customers.  

GLOBALG.A.P. requirements include food safety, traceability, environment, workers’ health and safety, animal welfare and crop management. The most widely used GLOBALG.A.P. standard is Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA), applicable for fruit and vegetables, aquaculture, floriculture and more. This standard also forms the basis for the GGN label, the consumer label for certified, responsible farming and transparency. Additionally, the GLOBALG.A.P. Produce Handling Assurance (PHA) standard provides stand-alone food safety and traceability certification of post-harvest activities, such as cooling, packing, re-packing, handling, and storage of crops for human consumption. The PHA standard may be used in conjunction with the GLOBALG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance standard for fruit and vegetables, combinable crops, hops, or with the harmonized produce safety standard. 

Broadening agricultural and environmental sustainability through cooling

Through the GLOBALG.A.P. Community Membership, InspiraFarms will continue to take an active part in the global movement towards safe and responsible farming and postharvest handling. Additionally, the membership will support InspiraFarms’ efforts to increase awareness around the urgent need of growing the cold chain, especially in growing economies across African countries. This way, InspiraFarms, will become key players around post-harvest losses and meeting food safety standards.   

Also, GLOBALG.A.P. Community Membership, will be an important platform for expanding InspiraFarms Cooling expertise and knowledge around efficient and high-quality cooling at all stages of the supply chain, particularly the first mile and on-farm post-harvest management, with the promotion of safe, responsible agriculture around the globe.  Together with our partners, we support farmers and agribusinesses, by connecting them to cooling solutions that minimise food loss, maximise shelf life, reduce OPEX and give access to data. Cumulatively, this maximises their returns at one of the earliest points post-harvest, hence sustainably handling and marketing their agricultural products after harvest. GLOBALG.A.P. certification focuses on, among others, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), a core component of InspiraFarms’ coldrooms, which are HACCP certification ready. 

“InspiraFarms is incredibly glad to be able to join the GLOBAL G.A.P. Community Membership. Both entities believe in SDG 2 – the right to high quality and safe food for all. For this reason, InspiraFarms recognises that quality cold chain has a core role in achieving that goal. All the solutions we have, from coldrooms, to packhouses and slaughterhouses, are designed to minimise food loss and extend shelf life, for the benefit of both producers and the environment. Therefore, we have invested in our remote monitoring solution, to facilitate the efficiency of cooling and to help efficiently digitise this journey. Together we want to drive the transformation towards a more environmentally and socially sustainable agricultural value chain, for growers of all sizes. For the 100+ units we have deployed across Africa, we have seen the value of good precooling, and its impact on food safety, for the economic advancement of growers, and for the environment. Since then, we have expanded from primarily serving the near and on farm fruit and vegetables, to serving the larger market of flowers and meats.” Julian Mitchell, CEO InspiraFarms.

GLOBAL GAP CERTIFIED COLD ROOM

About the companies 

InspiraFarms  

InspiraFarms is a leading provider of advanced and sustainable cooling solutions, for high-value fresh produce across Africa, serving exporters, agribusinesses, 3rd party logistics service providers and food supply chains in emerging markets. Founded in 2012, InspiraFarms has the goal of providing agribusiness in the developing world with tools, technology, data and expertise to significantly reduce food losses, energy costs, and access higher-value markets. InspiraFarms has designed its cooling solutions to minimise food loss, maximise shelf life, reduce OPEX and give access to data; all to maximise ROI at one of the earliest points post-harvest. InspiraFarms has a range of solutions for the fruit and vegetable, flower, animal protein and temperature-controlled logistics industries. 

The GLOBALG.A.P. Community Membership 

GLOBALG.A.P. is a brand developing smart farm insurance solutions created by FoodPLUS GmbH in Cologne, Germany, with the cooperation of producers, retailers and other stakeholders from across the food industry. These solutions include a set of standards for safe and socially and environmentally responsible production practices. The most widely used GLOBALG.A.P. standard is the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA), which applies to fruits and vegetables, aquaculture, floriculture and livestock, among others. This standard also forms the basis of the GGN label: the label is intended for the consumer for transparency and certified and responsible production. The GLOBALG.A.P. brand began its journey as EUREPGAP in 1997. 25 years later, more than 200,000 producers in 134 countries are GLOBALG.A.P. certified. Nearly 150 team members around the world are dedicated to the mission of spreading responsible production practices to ensure that future generations have access to safe food. www.globalgap.org.