Bay firm lit spark for food safety costs tool
A new tool inspired by a Golden Bay business aims to make it easier for rural food producers to meet food safety requirements.
Food Safety Minister Damien O’Connor said Takaka cheesemakers Gabrielle Kervella and Alan Cockman approached him several years ago, frustrated with the burden of compliance costs on their small business.
‘‘Kervella Cheese is a little company in Golden Bay that makes cheese with a passion. They said, ‘This is crazy, we are spending 50 or 60 per cent of our income on verification just so we can produce cheeses’.’’
O’Connor said the company’s struggle reflected how those with a passion for developing food products, particularly in remote locations, were constrained by regulations and the prohibitive costs of verification.
Food business owners were required to pay for an approved food safety verifier to visit their business every two years, along with their travel and accommodation costs.
Yesterday, O’Connor announced the introduction of a remote verification tool, which aims to combat the challenges faced by small and regional domestic food businesses, especially those in rural locations.
From Monday, lower-risk food businesses will have the ability for every second verification visit to be done using a smartphone or other device to Skype with an approved auditor.
O’Connor said New Zealand was a nation of food producers, and anything that simplified the verification costs and process was beneficial.
‘‘It’s one more step to try and reduce the compliance cost and open the door for innovation.’’
Food Safety Minister Damien O’Connor
‘‘It’s one more step to try and reduce the compliance cost and open the door for innovation, regardless of whether you live in Invercargill, Great Barrier Island or Golden Bay.
‘‘We will not reduce our standards and requirements, but we will help the way that food producers have to meet them.’’
Mister Chai owner Tim O’Sullivan was involved in the Ministry for Primary Industries pilot programme to test remote verification over the last year.
O’Sullivan and wife Jess started Mister Chai seven years ago in Hawke’s Bay. The couple, who are now based in Ruby Bay, sell authentic Indian chai tea from a caravan across the region.
He said the tool had worked well but required a strong internet connection. It would make a big difference to their small business.
To fly in auditors for the verification process cost about $1000, O’Sullivan said, and the online tool almost eliminated that cost. ‘‘I don’t know what the exact costs will be, but it will be far less.’’
New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Bryan Wilson said there were more than 1000 food businesses operating in places with limited access to verifiers. The cost reduction as a result of using the new tool would be ‘‘quite significant’’ for some businesses.
‘‘These innovative tools were codesigned with food businesses, councils and verifiers, and reflect a modern and common-sense approach to food safety regulation,’’ Wilson said.
Another online tool launched yesterday, My Food Rules, aims to help people work through food safety requirements in a simple way, enabling them to get on with producing food. The process generates a food control plan, and provides a list of verifiers and a contact for the relevant registration authority.
In addition, the My Food Plan tool for businesses that make high-risk foods will enable business owners to create a single plan covering multiple Food Act registrations. The pre-evaluated plan could be delivered to a business and registered in 20 days, which Wilson said was faster than the current process.