Stay informed
Subscribe to our newsletter, our monthly look at food and non-food quality management.
Sustainability is also at the forefront of the food industry. And it sounds simple in theory, too. Produce CO2 neutrally, use raw materials from Europe and improve recyclability of packaging. But not only is this difficult to achieve, reporting it properly is another challenge. Précon can help from her years of expertise.
Food safety and quality management are important topics for the food industry. Every producer wants to offer consumers or consumers delicious, healthy and good food. In addition, consumers and consumers want to know what they are buying, making or eating.
Précon is the company that helps that food industry do just that. "Our mission is to support our customers in achieving safe and fair products," says Marcel Tijhuis, managing director at Précon. "In that, we want our customers to excel. We do that together with the customer, practically and pragmatically, and often with long commitment."
Based in Bunnik and Hasselt, Belgium, the company can count a large part of the food industry among its customers, from large corporate producers and retailers to small family businesses and start-ups.
As broad as the clientele are the services Précon offers. "We train employees on food safety and hygiene and help companies perform risk analyses to minimize food safety risks and prevent food fraud. We also support producers if they need certification before they are allowed to supply to retail, for example."
"Our mission is to support our customers in achieving safe and fair products."
Marcel Tijhuis
In recent years, Tijhuis has increasingly received questions about sustainability from his clients. "Take the CSRD directive, for example. This new European regulation requires large companies to report their progress on sustainability. This will apply to large companies from 2024, later SMEs will also have to report this."
"For companies, this is complicated. How should they report this? What are the key steps companies can take?" said Tijhuis. "That, too, starts with risk analysis. With our clients, we think about how they can actually make impact and prevent this from becoming a paper tiger. We also advise on sustainability communication to avoid falling into the trap of unintentional greenwashing."
How to operate emission-free by 2050, although still several years away, is also a question being asked now. "Companies are wondering how to make that happen. They all understand that we need to use less fossil fuels, reduce packaging and so on. But they are also in a chain as a company, they need to look at this more holistically."
They can also turn to Précon with those questions. "We have traditionally been active in food safety and quality management, and with that sustainability has a great overlap. Moreover, the quality manager increasingly has the subject of sustainability in his portfolio and is also often our interlocutor. So I definitely see opportunities for cooperation in the area of sustainability."
Another example. Tijhuis explains how Précon often advises companies on the information that should be on a label, especially when a company claims to offer an organic or sustainable product. "Questions will always arise about the reports, about the sustainability claims. How do we deal with organic? What is and isn't allowed on a label?" Tijhuis is happy to help his clients with that.
"We are already very successful in getting companies to perform better on food safety and quality. Let's work with clients to broaden that topic and embrace sustainability as well."
Marcel Tijhuis
"When it comes to making packaging more sustainable, there is still a world to be won. The goal of reducing plastic is quickly made, but how do you then go about it? For retailers, we are therefore developing packaging innovation plans and providing support for mandatory packaging dossiers."
For Tijhuis, it feels like a personal sustainability mission to help his clients. "We are already very successful in getting companies to perform better on food safety and quality. Let's work with the client to broaden that topic and embrace sustainability as well."
Contact us at info@precongroup.com or +31 (0)30 - 65 66 010.
Subscribe to our newsletter, our monthly look at food and non-food quality management.