Frutarom USA Gets 9000:2000 Certification

07/09/07 William Ludlum, President, Frutarom USA Inc., announced that the company has been recommended to receive the important distinction of ISO 9000:2000 certification.

After a comprehensive audit by two members of the Bureau Veritas Certification (BVC) over a three-day period in June, auditors declared their recommendation for this prestigious Certification, affirming Frutarom’s standing as a quality-driven company. Compliance programs that are in place in Frutarom’s Purchasing, Customer Service, Human Resources, Quality Assurance/Regulatory and Production areas met the required standards for ISO Certification, with only three citations for minor nonconformance. The auditors said that Frutarom’s performance is one of the best they have ever witnessed for a company undergoing their first Certification audit.

In making the announcement, Mr. Ludlum thanked Frutarom employees for their hard work and dedication in getting the compliance program off the ground. He said, “Many Frutarom employees, at every level of our organization, spent considerable time and effort in the development and documentation of many systems. They were able to accomplish our goal within a very short period.” He cited in particular the efforts of Ron Pisculli, Manager of Quality Control, and his team by saying, “Ron gave life to the project and made sure that continual improvement was achieved across all functions.”

Mr. Pisculli was responsible for coordinating all the elements affected by the ISO certification process, including customer satisfaction, QA/QC, product processing, preventative action and continuous improvement. Ron said, “ISO represents more than a certification; it’s a way of doing business. We’re confident that the work we put in to achieve this goal will be repaid many times over in our productivity, efficiency and quality. It was a total team effort. Everyone at this site contributed to our success.”

According to Lou Gayo, Vice President of Operations, “ISO is a management philosophy that ensures control of all aspects of our business through continuous improvement. There is now strong validation that our resources meet the performance standards our customers count on for quality products, consistency and batch uniformity that are supported by exemplary service.”

The steps taken to comply with the requirements of ISO certification will have a major impact on ingredient production in the North Bergen facility. According to Production Manager Bill Lapinski, “we took a long look at the way we handled all aspects of production, especially cleaning, and as a team we agreed on best practices and updated our SOPs accordingly. The result is a more efficient production floor, meaning our customers will get what they want when they want it, without surprises.”

Mr. Ludlum indicated that this certification is further validation of the overall activities that Frutarom USA Inc. has undertaken to add substantial value to the Food Supply Chain. He explains, “Frutarom’s North Bergen facilities have made many attempts to meet or exceed the many Food Standards required by our Customers.  In addition to being ISO Certified we have Organic, FDA Approved facilities ready for our “Made in the USA” label.  We process many botanical extracts along with hydrocolloid gums to service food, flavor, nutraceutical, dietary supplement, nutriocosmetics along with many supportive flavors and functional ingredients.  We stand ready to show you what we have to offer in support of your and our creative ideas to drive the market into unique directions.     

Mr. Gayo explained that Frutarom’s is engaged in a continual improvement process and will seriously address all areas where improvements can be made. “Auditors from BVC will return to monitoring our progress in all of our manufacturing and business programs. It’s a long haul toward total compliance but we are well on our way, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the people at Frutarom USA.”