FOOD SAFETY IN THAILAND: Going Beyond Standards

Meat processor Betagro Group knows the importance of staying one step ahead. When bird fl u emerged in Thailand three years ago, companies were forced–or so it appeared–to change their production lines to cooked chicken. But interestingly, many were already in the process. So rather than crippling the industry outright, the outbreak pushed processors in a direction they were already going-towards valueadded products. Despite infrastructure issues, rising costs and currency changes, many Thai processors have managed to adapt. And Betagro's own ability to recover and thrive has been based on a strategy that emphasizes safety and quality.

Food safety first
In Thailand, Betagro was the fi rst to launch an e-traceability program. Its software tracks the origins of raw materials and products throughout the production process. Betagro is a large company, so this is important. With 30 years in the food industry, it is involved in everything from animal farms to food processing. It has a poultryintegrated business that includes chicken feed mills; breeder-chicken farms; hatcheries; broiler-layer chicken farms; contracted farms; and chicken-processing plants for exporting, frozen-cooked chicken products; as well as a sausage factory for the domestic market. Betagro decided to implement the e-traceability program to raise the confi dence of buyers, consumers and suppliers in the whole farm-tofork chain. Thailand currently supplies about 300,000 tons of cooked chicken to the world market and Betagro products make up about 15-18 percent of that total. Vasit Taepaisitphongse, executive vice president and group chief operating offi cer, says this fi gure will grow, making traceability even more important. "We expect to increase our supply of cooked-frozen chicken to 25 percent of the total country's export volume."

This traceability program has been paired with inspection procedures at every stage of every production process. This ensures that all the company's entire range is free from chemicals residues, germs or contaminants. Taepaisitphongse explains, "We are not waiting for customers to tell us what to do. We have created our own benchmark and tried to go beyond the target." And that philosophy applies to the Group's other core businesses: swine integration, a feed business, an animal-health business, Japanese restaurants and others. (Aside from fresh-chicken meat and frozen-cooked chicken, the company also produces other food products like fresh pork meat, soup base, sausage products, eggs and other products by order.) However, the path to traceability success has not always been smooth. In addition to software and human-resource issues, data collection has been a challenge. "This is a costly, time-consuming process-especially the data warehouse," says Taepaisitphongse, who has been in this business with Betagro since 1988. "But we know that this investment is very worthwhile because we can gain full confi dence of buyers and consumers."

Rationale
So how did this move towards increased food safety come about? The simple answer is that the customers wanted it. Betagro brought in traceability at the request of their Japanese buyers who wanted auditing and certifi cation processes. Since Japan is only one of the company's main market, Betagro also adopted the Assured Chicken Program to satisfy its EU clients. Well accepted by big buyersincluding Tesco, the program focuses on standards that emphasize bio-security and animal welfare.

Based on the International standard ACP in the UK and guidelines from the RSCPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), and it was also paired with outcomes from a customer survey to ensure that all needs were met. This program applies to the selection of raw materials, farm management (both in the group's farm and in the contracted farms) and extends all the way to processing. "We hired consultants to help us on this program which standardizes quality control throughout the production process," Taepaisitphongse says.

Recently, the new international concept of compartmentalization–the new OIE standard of avian infl uenza protection–is a new program that many companies are paying attention to, including Betagro. The main objective of this standard is to establish and recognize defi ned territories where natural and manmade barriers can prevent entry and limit or stop the spread of bird fl u. This program facilitates better surveillance, detection and control of the disease; and it also ensures availability of distinct and disease-free production areas both for export and local markets.

According to Taepaisitphongse, the company has abided by the rules and responded to all requests of the Department of Livestock Development (DLD). "Although the buyers do not require it yet and there is not clear criteria on this issue, we have always maintained bio-security status in our farms and are also cooperative with the government on any request."

He adds that this is an ongoing process and the company had already submitted list of their compartments to the DLD.

Customer buzz
These strategies seem to be working. In addition to Japan and the EU, Betagro has high-potential buyers from Canada who are interested in the value-added Asian-style, fusion and ethnic-food products. "Our products are considered the new product for this market which is very diverse due to the various nationalities living the country," explains Taepaisitphongse. "To be different and competitive in the world food market, companies have to be alert to the latest food trends as well as the latest food-quality and safety standards required by consumers."

Betagro wants to compete with others and with itself. Thus, these programs have been initiated to ensure that their products are safe and quality products