Commitment to Fruit Safety & Quality
At Rainier Fruit Company, we are committed to supplying safe, quality assured, fresh and wholesome fruits that meet or exceed our customer's requirements and comply with industry standards.
Our Food Safety Program is an integral part of our entire operating philosophy. We understand that food safety can't be effectively maintained as a final inspection process only. It is the responsibility of each and every employee throughout the entire organization, including those of our growers, to provide safe fruit to our customers.
To assure our customers that these goals are continuously being met on our farms and facilities, we have established and will maintain the SQF System for our food safety. To verify our commitment and compliance with SQF, we will conduct both regular internal audits along with external audits conducted by independent parties.
Our Food Safety Program is designed to integrate GAP, GMP and HAACP programs
Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) are guidelines established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help minimize microbial food safety hazards for fresh fruits and vegetables.
The key components of GAP guidelines are irrigation water quality, proper handling of chemicals, sanitation, employee health and hygiene, transportation of products, and traceback ability. Our employees and supervisors are routinely trained to make sure they understand and follow GAP Guidelines.
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are FDA guidelines established for the processing and packaging of food products, whose key components are very similar to GAP. Fresh tree fruits, specifically apples, pears and cherries, packed in their simplest forms are considered to be raw agricultural commodities by the USDA and do not fall under FDA guidelines. However, we have applied GMP to the handling and packaging of fresh whole fruits to assure safe, wholesome and high quality fruit for our valued customers.
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is a systematic approach to assessing possible risks associated with a product and determining the controls necessary to minimize or eliminate the risks of causing illness or injury.
We view the HACCP program as an integral part of our food safety program.
Independent Audits
Reputable independent parties regularly audit our farming, packaging and distribution processes as follows:
- Washington State Department of Agriculture inspector is on packing line daily verifying quality.
- Primus Labs conducts monthly chemical residue tests to verify compliance with industry standards.
- NCS International bi-annually inspects our orchards to meet SQF 1000 Food Safety Certification codes.
- NCS International bi-annually inspects our packing facilities to meet SQF 2000 HACCP certification codes.