Thumbs-up for spud web QC check
5 October 2001
Thumbs-up for spud web QC check
By Andrew Swallow
A NEW on-line potato quality report system, in its first year of commercial use, has been given full approval by the growers who are using it.
Uniquely available to Greenvale AP growers through its website, the service posts full details of crop quality by load every 15 minutes.
“It is streets ahead of anyone else we deal with,” says Wrentham Vegetables Alison Cooper, near Beccles, Suffolk.
“You can get the load details when you want them. There is no ringing up and waiting for faxes.”
Andrew Wortley of Norfolk-based growers OW Wortley & Sons agrees: “It is pretty handy really. We know a lot quicker if everything is all right with a load.”
The fast-track system allows stores to accept loads from growers on the basis of their own self-assessment quality forms.
Before the lorry unloads, only a cursory quality check is done, which speeds up turn-around times for hauliers and growers.
Full quality assessments are done while the potatoes go through Greenvale APs plant and results are posted on the web-site alongside growers own analysis.
“Ultimately our QC is final and binding, but what we are looking for is parity between the two reports,” explains procurement operations manager Robert Baird.
Growers self-assessments should reduce rejections and deductions, he reasons, while they can now receive bonuses as quality improves above specification.
About 20% of Greenvales suppliers producing 40-50% of its tonnage are using the on-line service.
Most are in the east but more growers in the West Midlands are expected to start using it soon.
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