United Fresh Working Group Updating Audits Benchmarking Matrix

The United Fresh Produce Association's Food Safety and Technology Council has re-opened the Audits Benchmarking Matrix for updating and inclusion of other fresh produce auditing organizations.  The Audits Benchmarking Matrix provides the fresh produce industry with an on-line, searchable, side-by-side comparison of how auditing organizations say they manage their audit process and assure the quality of their audits and auditors. Since the release of the first edition of the Audits Benchmarking Matrix in 2009, more than a thousand users have accessed the tool, which is available by clicking here.

With the Audits Benchmarking Matrix, users can search and compare various features that are critical to the quality, reliability and integrity of these organizations' audit programs; assess the quality features of an audit or standards setting organization; and make more informed decisions about which organizations' audit, auditor and audit performance quality programs best align with your suppler quality programs.

"The first edition of the Audit Benchmarking Matrix was a culmination of great feedback and information we collected from the audit organizations and standard owners most commonly used by the fresh produce industry," said Gail Murray, leader of the working group that developed the audit matrix. Ms. Murray is Senior Manager, Safety & Quality, at Disney Consumer Products. "Audit organizations have continued to improve their policies and auditor training, so now is the time to update the Matrix and add other auditor organizations that the industry uses.  Also, in the interest of making this tool as user-friendly as possible, we hope that users of the matrix will reach out to the working group with comments and suggestions as to how its usefulness can be improved."

"A company's selection or acceptance of an audit organization depends on their trust in the skills and credibility of an organization's auditors and audit process," said United Fresh Senior Vice President Food Safety and Technology Dr. David Gombas. "The Audits Benchmarking Matrix asks the audit organizations the questions that produce companies and their customers would ask themselves, in a format that is searchable from a desktop".

The Audits Benchmarking Matrix is free of charge and may be accessed by clicking here. Comments and questions on the Audits Benchmarking Matrix can be directed to Dr. Gombas at 202-303-3411 or [email protected].