Benchmarking between vegetable suppliers in Greece

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop and implement benchmarking methods on food safety and hygiene between suppliers of fruits and vegetables, regardless the food safety management systems they implement.

Design/methodology/approach

A tailor made questionnaire was prepared of 64 questions, divided into ten sectors regarding hygiene and food safety. The suppliers were selected from the inventory of a large chain of retail stores. The audits were performed by a food safety expert on the site of the company. Totally, 72 audits were conducted in several geographic regions of Greece. The data collected was statistically analyzed for benchmarking with technical, geographical or financial criteria.

Findings

The large size companies have a level from satisfactory to very satisfactory in the transport and need improvement on their packaging materials. Improvement in procedures of cleaning and disinfection is required by companies which are in the region of Attica and the Peloponnese.

Originality/value

The proposed methodology and analysis can be used to benchmark groups of food companies with common commercial profile in order to prioritize both the frequency of audits and the importance of interventions and preventive measures.

Citation

Souliotis, A., Giazitzi, K. and Boskou, G. (2017), "Benchmarking between vegetable suppliers in Greece", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 1649-1662. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-05-2016-0071