Agriquality Mark - Background Information

Agriquality Mark
B A C K G R O U N D I N F O R M A T I O N

New Zealand Honey Producers' Co-operative
· Holland's Honey is New Zealand's leading brand of honey, founded by pioneer producer Dick Holland, an innovative beekeeper with a legendary commitment to quality. Holland's Honey is a market leader in the creamed honey market and is produced by the New Zealand Honey Producers' Co-op in Timaru, the biggest co-operative in New Zealand's honey industry.

· AgriQuality New Zealand undertook rigorous testing of the production systems and processes used to make Holland's creamed honeys. Processes and systems were examined and audited right through the production chain - from honey beehives to pottle packaging. Auditing included assessing processes such as:
· correct stock movement through the factory hot room
· maintenance of honey quality during cooling
· correct creaming of honey
· correct packaging of honey
· proper hygiene standards are in place at all stages
· all products are true and correctly labelled.

· The creamed honey range's new packaging includes tamper proof bottles and batch coding. As a result, each batch of honey is traceable to the hives it originated from.

Unitech Industries Ltd
· Unitech Industries specialises in processing powder and liquid raw materials into finished products for the dairy, food, pharmaceutical and animal health industries and for special purpose industrial requirements.

· The company's production includes infant foods, breakfast foods, vitamin and mineral premixes, special dietary products, health foods, nutritional products and other milk-based products. A large percentage of Unitech's products are made for the export market.

· Producing nutritional supplements is an exacting process involving precision mixing to meet low tolerance specifications. Hygiene considerations are paramount.

· AgriQuality carried out an extensive audit of the processes Unitech Industries use to make its ProActive Nutrition range, nutritional products for the promotion of health and fitness. The audit included ensuring:
· supplies of raw materials and services which impact on product safety are controlled by an approved method.
· raw materials can be traced through the process to the final product.
· all food is safe to eat up until its expiry date under normal storage conditions.
· the final product is sampled and assessed to verify that quality objectives are being achieved.
· all information and claims on the product label and other material, including advertising, must be true and able to be substantiated with reliable, independent scientific evidence.

ENDS

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