Veggies From Mexico's Georgius Gotsis Discusses Weekly Audit System and High Sustainability and Social Responsibility Standards
CULIACÁN, SINALOA, MEXICO - With strong pillars to stand on, an organization can reach new heights. For Veggies From Mexico (VFM), its values are evident and a clear contributor to its success. With a weekly audit system creating a culture of food safety and operational excellence, VFM represents a grower community rooted in sustainability and social responsibility.
“The VFM audit system promotes the culture of food safety and social responsibility, not only with the managers of these areas but with all the company managers and workers. Spanning general management, administration, the packaging facility, the field, and other support areas, this ensures a comprehensive culture and a lifestyle,” explains Chief Executive Officer Georgius Gotsis. “The weekly audit is a means to support what farmers, year after year, confirm in their certification audits, both in food safety and social responsibility. Our farmers have the certificates of the highest level in these two areas.”
Once a farmer has gained the required certification and is compliant with the criteria of the weekly audits, they are welcomed to the community and given labels with a customized QR code to be placed on their pallets, which leads directly to the Veggies From Mexico website with information on the grower.
The Veggies From Mexico community currently comprises the following growers:
- Agroexportadora del Noroeste
- Agrícola Belher
- Tricar
- De La Costa
- Agrícola Campaña
- Agrícola El Nazario
- Del Campo y Asociados
- SL Agrícola
- Agrícola Chaparral
- Agroindustrias Tombell
- Agrícola Maor
- Promotora Agroindustrial y Comercial del Tamazula
Collectively, these suppliers provide a robust portfolio of tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, bell peppers, string beans, spicy peppers, blueberries, and more. To further promote food safety across its community, Veggies From Mexico also implements continuous training to ensure its operation is safe for its growers and the communities they serve.
“Each year, we have local and foreign specialists to train our community members and their food safety and social responsibility leaders,” Georgius states. “The purpose is to provide knowledge and tools to continue reducing food safety risks, as well as to continue providing the best living conditions for their workers.”
Building on this training, a team of technicians from Eleven Rivers Growers is trained every summer in the most significant food safety and social responsibility certifications in the world.
Establishing the Veggies From Mexico community as a symbol of high-quality, clean, and consumption-safe produce grown by a team with an admirable human approach, the grower community has made several plays to educate consumers, distributors, and retailers about its commitment to food safety and social responsibility.
“We have developed a promotional program through workshops and webinars, content promotion on digital channels of our own, and presence in specialized media as well as participating in events in the sector to position the Veggies From Mexico brand as a badge of certainty,” Georgius adds.
An unwavering dedication to social responsibility and food safety is something many consumers are looking for in the produce department, and Veggies From Mexico is helping to meet this need with a dynamic team of certified growers.
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