GCA nasce nel 1998 dalla collaborazione di professionisti specializzati nei diversi ambiti del settore agroalimentare, per rispondere all’esigenza di consulenza specializzata delle molte aziende che nel corso degli anni hanno intrapreso la strada della certificazione di qualità per la valorizzazione dei propri prodotti e della propria professionalità.
La pluriennale esperienza di agronomi, veterinari, consulenti aziendali e informatici, consente a GCA di proporre ai propri clienti una gamma completa di servizi e prodotti per la sicurezza, la qualità, il tracking industriale.
GCA coordina le competenze dei propri specialisti per la definizione di interventi completi e integrati per la migliore soddisfazione delle esigenze di valorizzazione dei prodotti e adeguamento normativo delle prassi.
GCA assicura la più completa ed efficiente gamma di soluzioni per tutte le realtà produttive, dalla piccole dimensioni d’impresa alle grandi realtà industriali.
English version
Introduction to the GCA Group
Since 1998, the GCA Group has been operating in the field of quality certification for food and agricultural products. Its objective is to offer high quality services to the industry in order to add transparency and value to its products.
The presence of veterinarian, biology, zootechnology, legal and information technology specialists characterises the company expertise in the field.
In 2001, given the increasing role of information technology in the agricultural sector in general and in the filed of production chain traceability in particular, a new company was created with the mission of designing and implementing database systems to manage traceability. GCA Solutions has specialized in building turn-key traceability systems that can easily be interfaced with existing ERP software and with most of the hardware that is commonly found in the food production chain such as scales, label printers, industrial robots and machinery, RFID technology, etc.
The following paragraphs briefly describe the services offered by the group.
Traceability
Traceability is a unique instrument that allows the complete certification of the life cycle of a food product from “farm to fork.” According to this approach, retail products are accompanied by an information flow that characterises their industrial processing, the players involved and the origin of raw materials, thus enabling the consumer to make informed decisions about what product to buy. This instrument goes beyond the traditional forms of quality certifications and testing, in fact it is instrumental for re building the trust relationship between producers and consumers. It also adds value to the agricultural production, identifies the origin of foods and pinpoints the responsibilities of the food processing industries involved.
An opportunity for the food industry and a guarantee for consumers
Traceability is nowadays required by the large retail/distribution sector in Europe as a compulsory contractual obligation. Food producing /processing companies must therefore comply with this requirement in order to have a market output. Moreover traceability will become mandatory for all food and animal feed products by 2005 according to the EU regulation CE 178/2002.
Our project for an integrated traceability service is based on three levels of implementation.
The first level involves the collection and organization of documental data regarding the traceability lot and the procedures applied by the company in order to maintain a consistent traceability record. This is the so-called traceability protocol or traceability scheme and is instrumental in order to build an effective traceability system.
In the second level the paper-based documentation collected in level one is organized using a computerized data base and is managed electronically. This approach allows the producers to organize their outputs in lots and batches and to trace the origin of raw materials supplies. It also facilitates both the withdrawal from the market of defective lots and the calculation of processing yields in real time.
The third level of implementation, concerning the marketing of the products is characterised by the distribution of the information contents gathered at the previous levels. Traceability data is therefore disseminated in a cost-efficient way, together with any other information about the product that is relevant for marketing purposes. The traceability cycle is now complete, because the information is available not only to the producers or distributors but most importantly to the end user and becomes a powerful marketing tool that can really differentiate high quality productions as well as reassuring customers. A fully transparent and documented product will also give to the producer and distributor a positive feedback in terms of image.
The technological instrument that allows access to the consumer is an Internet portal that can be retrieved by a regular web browser. The data present on the Internet portal is always accessible using a bar code or a lot/batch code. The information can also be distributed to the enterprises/institutions involved in food production chain. This version of the portal is characterized by a full management-style view of all the traceability information available and is therefore password-protected and available via SSL to the granted parties.
HACCP
The European Union, national and local regulators increasingly view one approach – Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) – as the most rigorous method for ensuring food safety. HACCP procedures cover proper food handling, preparation and storage, and are designed to control bacterial, mould and yeast growth. In particular the Italian Legislative Decree No. 155/97 requires the adoption of the HACCP methodology for every company that handles or processes food items. In order to assess the hygienic and sanitary risks that are involved in the production/distribution process, the GCA Group offers complete solutions for HACCP certification and full compliance with Italian and European regulations.
Quality certification systems: ISO 9000
The purpose of this quality certification system is to reassure customers end to insure an efficient company management.
In order to meet customer’s expectations, companies must insure that their products conform to technical specifications and regulations. They also must make reasonable profits and increase their margins by anticipating consumers trends and optimise organisational procedures.
CGA offers specific assistance to the food industry in order to meet quality standards and to obtain the related certifications.
Product certification
Product certification puts the emphasis on the characteristics and peculiarities of a food product that can differentiate it in terms of quality. It is a voluntary form of certification aimed at fulfilling the customer’s requirements of credibility and food safety. The consumer is often confused by the great variety of advertisement and commercial information proposed by the industry. With product certification it is possible to differentiate quality production by defining a code of practice. An independent body must certify compliance to the code of practice.
Marketing services
GCA is a consulting company providing expert advice to firms launching new products, entering new markets or building visibility. GCA is an added resource for special projects. GCA develops marketing campaigns, writes business plans and strategies, provides expertise when in-house resources are not available,
Additional services offered by GCA group in the field of marketing comprise of the preparation of market researches, the development of marketing plans and market studies for business plans, the support to development of new market channels in Italy and Europe, improvement of the corporate image, promotion and business communication, assessment of customer satisfaction, development of strategies and techniques for increasing the customer loyalty, development of trading programmes abroad, plans for the improvement of the assortment for sale, support to brand strategies.