Source: evmi.nl

Food fraude, stricter regulations and increasingly critical consumers; it is becoming increasingly important to know the origin of raw materials and products. Eurofins Food, Feed & Water Testing Netherlands helps companies to map out the entire chain, from raw material to end product

More than ever, consumers want to know what they are eating. How is the food produced? Does the information on the label match the contents of the packaging? What impact does production have on nature, people, animals and the environment? It is important for our customers that they receive reliable information about the origin of products', says Managing Director of the Netherlands, Eurofins Food, Feed & Water testing, Dennis Wetjens. They want to be able to guarantee the quality of their products, and to be sure that they comply with all legislation. Legislation and regulations in the field of food and water safety are being tightened up more and more. This makes it difficult for companies to keep up. That is why we are increasingly being asked by customers whether we can do more in this area and help them to be compliant. We are happy to meet this demand.

Opportunities in the chain

However, this requires a different approach. Now we serve customers within different segments of the production chain. There's a good chance that coffee from the bean in the ship to the pack of coffee in the shop shelf has been to various Eurofins locations'. Eurofins does not only have several laboratories in the Netherlands. Eurofins Food, Feed & Water Testing Netherlands is part of Eurofins Scientific, one of the largest international laboratory organizations and world market leader in the field of nutritional research. And that offers opportunities. By organizing ourselves around the chain, we can follow the journey of the coffee bean, for example. By linking data and working together intelligently, we gain insight into the entire production chain'.

This insight offers the customer all kinds of advantages. Problems, for example, can be detected earlier, instead of only at the end of the chain. For example, a customer can have a check carried out earlier in the chain to ensure that raw materials do indeed meet the quality requirements. The origin of raw materials can be determined by means of tests. This is important because the quality of products can vary from country to country and depends on the circumstances in which they were produced. This applies to cashew nuts, for example. These originate from countries such as Africa, India and Vietnam. The latter, however, regularly imports from abroad in order to be able to meet its own export demand. On the basis of certain values you can measure where the nuts come from. In terms of values, the nuts from one country always fall within a certain range'.

Knowledge partner

In the coming years Eurofins will move from a data supplier to a knowledge partner in the food and water chain of our customers. We provide a quality guarantee at product level. This makes us a reliable partner in the production process of our customers. We go beyond answering customer questions and take on a more advisory role'. Using an example, Wetjens clarifies the role of Eurofins. Suppose a customer buys avocados from Chile, South Africa and Peru. The customer wants to do something about the environmental impact of his product and therefore prefers to buy avocados that use less pesticides. Our data may show that he would do better to ignore avocados from South Africa, for example, because more pesticides are used there. In this way, we can help our customers achieve their goals. By combining our lab data with our knowledge and expertise, we become the knowledge partner for our customers in their food and water supply chain.

Testing remains part of Eurofins' activities. This is still our core business. This means that customers who call on us because of our reliable and fast test results can also turn to us now and in the future. Our added value for these customers lies in the efficiency of our labs. By offering the shortest turnaround times (TATs) in the industry, we are able to challenge our competitors as much as possible. The continuous reduction of these TATs is only possible by building a culture together in which we make our processes more efficient with the knowledge and ideas of colleagues who have to deal with this on a daily basis. In addition, we are constantly looking for opportunities to automate and consolidate.

Teamwork

With the expansion of the services to customers, the need and diversity of personnel increases. Our team has a slightly different composition. We employ good people who we want to offer a pleasant working environment. As Eurofins, we still have a lot to gain in terms of brand awareness. That's why we're going to make more contact with the education sector: secondary vocational education (MBO), higher vocational education (HBO) and universities, so that we can attract the right people. We want to increase the attractiveness of Eurofins by becoming a better known name in the labor market. However, everything starts with a good connection to our market. That is why we have looked at our field of activity and the challenges facing us and the market. Our vision and strategy meet these challenges. I am enthusiastic about our company: we provide a wonderful service. After all, we take care of food and water safety in the Netherlands. That gives energy and matters!