Certifications granted to Buencafé are a seal of guarantee and reassurance for our customers
The world market becomes increasingly demanding as to the products consumed, so quality, safety, and impact of processes on the environment are taken into account when buying them. That’s why the (environmental, product and management systems) certifications have become a seal of guarantee and reassurance for consumers of products of the freeze-dried coffee factory Buencafé, one of the Colombian companies that have most worked on being certified in different fields in order to participate in the international market with excellent-quality soluble coffee.
“For many years, Buencafé has been innovative in management models. In the country we were among the first companies certified with ISO 9001, and also were the first to have the ISO 14001 environmental certification. We have always wanted to be pioneers, not only in infrastructure and technology, but in all the management models,” said Andrés Cruz, Buencafé Quality Director.
In line with this policy, the following are the certifications obtained by Buencafé to be able to compete in national and international markets and thus achieve total satisfaction of customers.
Management systems certifications
ISO 9001: It was the first standard under which Buencafé was certified and measures quality management, continuous improvement of the organization’s capacity and performance, and compliance with the highest product quality standards to satisfy the most demanding markets. “We are ISO 9001 certified since 1998, and this year we’re preparing ourselves to make a transition to the 2015 version, which implies different challenges,” Cruz noted.
ISO 14001: Certification obtained since 1999, aligned with Buencafé’s philosophy of respect for the environment – minimizing the impact of processes – and development of mitigation plans and continuous improvement.
OHSAS 18001: Its approach is ensuring preservation of safety and health of Buencafé’s workers, contractors and visitors; so the company has designed risk reduction and self-care promotion programs.
Food Safety Certifications: They include HACCP, BRC, IFS, Quality Assure and ISO 22000. Of preventive nature, it’s a system that controls product safety and enables to identify and evaluate hazards associated with food consumption at different processing stages. “The basis of the system is good manufacturing practices and doing things well at every stage of the process,” explains the Buencafé Quality Director.
BASC Certification: It is an integrated security management system, with which all activities of the company are controlled to ensure that its products are free from foreign substances due to malicious actions. Buencafé is certified since 2000.
Social Certifications: They are standards that evaluate practices under labor, health and security criteria, and under additional aspects such as environmental and human rights. From this group, Buencafé holds the Sedex-Smeta for the company to have the best labor practices and employees to have all the guarantees to do their job well.
Product certifications
Organic: Its main feature is cultivation, farming and preparation of food products by using only natural resources, avoiding use of chemical or synthetic agents.
Fair Trade: They certify payments of fair prices for agricultural products that have been purchased directly from small producers. In addition they seek to ensure decent working conditions, improved social conditions, and long-term relations, among others.
Rainforest: It is a social and environmental management system that promotes ecosystems conservation, wildlife protection, integrated waste management, and good labor conditions, among other environmental issues.
UTZ: It is a global certification program that sets the standards for responsible agricultural production and supply. UTZ, which means “good” in Mayan language, ensures social and environmental quality coffee production.
Protected Denomination of Origin: It is a coffee certification granted through Almacafé, which, with an audit, ensures that the chain of custody of the product is 100% Colombian. This certification is used in the Buendía products, a brand of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation produced in Buencafé.
Religious certifications
Buencafé holds the Kosher certification, which seeks to have a food quality control system according to the Jewish laws, and the Jalal certification, regarding the practices allowed by the Islamic law.
“We are currently working on the FISMA certification, a food safety law proposed by the US Government to ensure products are free from dangerous agents for human health. At Buencafé, continuous improvement of our processes is our philosophy, cross-cutting to any certification or any of our activities. Today we can assure we are one of the most certified organizations in the country from the point of view of management systems,” Andrés Cruz concluded.
