IFS Food Certification in Kenitra

In the Gharb plain, IFS Food certification is won in the middle of the campaign, when packing stations run with their seasonal teams. ACG, present in Kenitra with an office on avenue Hassan II, prepares stations and processing units for version 8 of the standard, at the pace of the harvests.

Kenitra · Afflatus office and on-site work

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The standard and who requires it in Kenitra

IFS Food evaluates how a food site controls the safety, authenticity, quality and compliance of its products, including when those products are only sorted, washed, graded and packed. The GFSI recognises IFS Food version 8 for several scopes, including the handling of plant products before processing: precisely the activity of a fruit or vegetable packing station. Version 8 has been mandatory since 1 January 2024.

In the Gharb, demand comes from downstream. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, citrus and early vegetables go to European importers and retailers who require from their suppliers a GFSI-recognised scheme, often IFS Food when the products are sold in continental Europe. Certification of the farm falls under other schemes, and a buyer may require both: one for the field, the other for the station. A grower who packs their own harvest therefore manages two levels of requirements in parallel.

Who it is for in Kenitra

The first companies concerned are the packing stations for red fruit, citrus and early vegetables, whether they belong to an exporting group, a cooperative or a grower who packs for themselves. Next come the units that process these fruits and vegetables, whether freezing, preparations, preserves or juices: they fall under IFS Food as processing.

Cold stores and temperature-controlled hauliers working for several shippers fall rather under IFS Logistics, since they store and move other people's goods. A cooperative that rents out part of its cold rooms is in a mixed case, to be settled with the certification body before the audit.

Finally, the stations' packaging suppliers, punnets, films, crates and cartons, may be questioned by their customers about IFS PACsecure or BRCGS Packaging Materials Issue 7. Their products touch directly fruit that is often eaten without cooking, which makes the question legitimate.

Industry in Kenitra

Kenitra supports two economies side by side. On one side, the Atlantic Free Zone and its automotive cluster, built around a large car plant opened in 2019 and its suppliers: wiring, plastics, seats, metal parts. On the other, the agricultural plain of the Gharb, geared to red fruit, citrus and early vegetables. It is this second economy that IFS certification concerns.

The Gharb model rests on the packing station and the cold chain. Fruit is harvested, cooled quickly, sorted, graded, packed then shipped to Europe by refrigerated truck, within short deadlines. Red fruit, fragile and eaten without cooking, leaves no margin: a cold break, poorly controlled wash water or badly washed hands end up directly with the consumer.

Seasonality is the other striking trait. In a few weeks, a station goes from a small permanent team to numerous seasonal teams. They must be welcomed, trained in hygiene, taught the site's rules and records must be kept up to date, without slowing the pace. Yet the IFS audit must take place when the products in scope are in production: for a seasonal station, it therefore takes place during the campaign, announced or not.

Around the stations have developed the trades that serve them, cold storage, refrigerated transport and packaging. Each of these links weighs in the assessment the auditor will make of the station.

What buyers ask for in Kenitra

European importers and retailers who buy fruit from the Gharb ask for a GFSI-recognised certificate for the station, IFS Food or BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9 depending on their market, in addition to a certificate for agricultural production. They add their own requirements on pesticide residues, with analysis plans, and on temperature throughout transport.

At audit, three KO requirements concentrate the risk in a station. KO no. 3, on personnel hygiene, applies to every seasonal worker from their first day, as to visitors and contractors. KO no. 7, on traceability, asks to link each pallet shipped to plots, growers and packaging used: a test carried out in low season, on a fictitious batch, proves little. KO no. 6 deals with foreign bodies, with particular attention to pallet wood, hard plastic of crates and the blades of cutting tools.

Outside KO, frequent nonconformities concern wash water quality, monitoring of cold room temperatures, cleaning of grading lines between two varieties and the keeping of records on days of heavy activity.

How we work in Kenitra

Step 1. Gap analysis
Step 2. Scoping
Step 3. Documentation
Step 4. Implementation
Step 5. Mock audit
Step 6. Certification audit
Step 7. Maintenance

ACG's office in Kenitra, avenue Hassan II, places us at the heart of the Gharb agricultural basin. Our consultants can thus follow a station at the pace of its campaign, and not on a calendar fixed long in advance.

We organise the mission in two phases. Before the campaign, in the quiet period, come the diagnostic, the documentary overhaul, the priority works and the training of team leaders, who will then train the seasonal workers. During the campaign, we return on site to check that the rules hold under the pressure of volumes: welcoming newcomers, cleaning between two varieties, temperature readings, traceability test on real batches. The mock audit takes place in full production, without notice when possible.

Training takes place in Arabic or French, directly on the packing line and in small groups, so as not to stop the station.

Between visits, the IFS lead follows their action plan on the firm's digital tools, with regular remote meetings. On the day of the certification audit, conducted by an accredited body, we can be present to support the team, without answering in its place.

Funding

For Moroccan companies, project training (IFS Food Version 8, HACCP, internal audit, food defence) can fall under OFPPT special training contracts (CSF), with training needs engineering through a GIAC, under the rules in force and based on the vocational training tax the company declares. ACG is CSF-eligible: we build the file with you and simulate the possible reimbursement, without promising an amount. For consultancy, an eligible SME can apply to Maroc PME’s PACT’Qualité programme; Maroc PME decides eligibility. The certification audit remains the company’s cost.

Training engineering and funding (CSF, GIAC)

Companies that trust us in these sectors

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Frequently asked questions

When should the IFS audit of a Gharb red fruit station be scheduled?

During the campaign, since the auditor must see the products in scope in production. The system must therefore be ready before the first harvests: documents, training of team leaders, works. Keep in mind that at least one audit in three is unannounced: the station must be ready every day of the campaign, not only on an agreed date.

Our growers are already certified in the field: does the station still need IFS Food?

Often, yes. Agricultural certification covers production at plot level; IFS Food covers sorting, washing, grading, packing and storage at the station. Some buyers accept other solutions for a station integrated into the farm: ask in writing what your customer requires before committing to the project.

How do we train seasonal workers in time for an audit in the middle of the campaign?

By training the team leaders first, who then pass on the hygiene and station rules to each newcomer, with simple material and an attendance sheet. We check on the line that the rules are applied, not just signed. A seasonal worker who arrived the day before the audit must already know the basic rules.

Does a Gharb cold store fall under IFS Food or IFS Logistics?

If it stores and ships other companies' products without processing them, IFS Logistics (version 3) is the intended framework. If it belongs to a station that stores its own products, storage falls within the station's IFS Food scope. Mixed cases are settled with the certification body before the audit.

Can we meet you in Kenitra?

Yes, at our Kenitra office, avenue Hassan II, by appointment. Most of the work, however, takes place in your station, on the lines. Contact: +212 661 863 618, contact@afflatusconsulting.com.

What makes the preparation effort for a station vary?

The number of products and varieties, the condition of the premises to be brought up to standard (floors, protected lighting, zone separation), the quality of traceability from the growers and the number of seasonal workers to train. The diagnostic, carried out outside the campaign, makes it possible to measure these elements before committing to a schedule.