IFS Food Certification in Agadir

IFS Food is the IFS standard for sites that manufacture, process or pack food. Its version 8, the only one in force since 1 January 2024, covers the product families that make up the Souss food industry: fruit and vegetables, fish, oils. It assesses the safety, authenticity, quality and legal and contractual compliance of products, with a score per requirement and a final percentage.

What is particular about Agadir is its outlets. Tomatoes, peppers, citrus and berries go to the European Union and the United Kingdom; canned goods and frozen seafood are also geared to export. Yet continental European retailers readily rely on IFS Food, whereas British retailers rather ask for BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9. A single exporter may therefore have to pass two audits a year, against two schemes, with a single quality team. This is the starting point of most IFS projects in the region.

Three families of companies in the region are concerned first. First the packing stations for tomatoes, peppers, citrus and berries, which sort, grade and pack for export. Then the fish canneries, freezing units and seafood processing workshops, around the port of Agadir and the Haliopolis industrial park. Finally the makers of argan-based food products, from food-grade oil to preparations containing it, whose importing customers question them on authenticity and origin.

To these are added the cold stores and hauliers working for several shippers, concerned by IFS Logistics, and the packaging manufacturers that deliver cartons, trays or metal cans to exporters, for whom IFS PACsecure or BRCGS Packaging Materials Issue 7 may be requested by customers.

Agadir is the economic centre of the Souss-Massa region, and its food industry rests on two resources: land and sea.

The Souss plain produces early vegetables, in particular tomatoes and peppers, as well as citrus and berries. A large part of this output is exported to the European Union and the United Kingdom, after passing through the region's many packing stations. The export campaign sets the rhythm of the year: station preparation, arrival of the teams, peak of activity, then a calmer period devoted to works and maintenance.

The port of Agadir, both a fishing port and a commercial port, feeds a seafood industry: fish canneries, freezing units, seafood processing workshops. The Haliopolis industrial park is dedicated to this sector. The industrial zones of Ait Melloul and Tassila host part of the food plants and warehouses. Argan, finally, gives the region products of its own, from food-grade oil to preparations containing it.

For an IFS project, this diversity calls for very different approaches. A tomato station is prepared at the pace of the campaign, around control of water, cold and team hygiene. A cannery is judged on its sterilisation schedules, its seaming and the monitoring of its critical points. An argan oil producer is judged on the authenticity of what it sells. The diagnostic therefore begins with a simple question: which product, for which customer, on which market?

European buyers of an Agadir exporter ask for an IFS Food version 8 certificate, often at the Higher level, and sometimes the "Star" status of a successful unannounced audit. British buyers rather ask for BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9. When both are required, the classic mistake is to build two parallel systems. HACCP plan, prerequisite programmes, traceability, allergens, fraud and food safety culture form a single foundation; the work specific to each audit is limited to what distinguishes the schemes, scoring and KO requirements on one side, fundamental requirements and grades on the other.

In a cannery, the IFS auditor dwells on KO no. 2, CCP monitoring: sterilisation records, probe calibration, seam checks, batch release. They also check that the fish species and composition declared on the label are proven. In a vegetable station, questions concern wash water, pesticide residues, cold and line cleaning. For argan, it is the food fraud vulnerability assessment that is examined: origin of the oil, risk of blending with other oils, analytical checks.