Column 41: A proud team effort
The 1990s witnessed a quest for efficiency across every industrial sector in North America and beyond. The quest for efficiency extended to production-related policies, processes and methods as well as quality control. But businesses also sought accreditation for the results of their commitment. That’s where the famous ISO certification came in.
In the food industry, HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) certification is even more demanding and carries more weight than ISO. It is specifically tailored to the production and marketing of products intended for consumers’ dining tables. That’s why Martine Girard, then Vice-president, Quality Control, favoured HACCP certification and convinced Lassonde’s senior management to pursue it.
In 1997, the multidisciplinary committee set up for that purpose began working intensively toward that goal. The path to certification involved all the company’s departments and facilities and especially the employees, who devoted considerable time and energy to the process over a two-year period. This team effort reached its peak in 1999 with the audit of the second Rougemont plant, which clinched the HACCP certification.
The official announcement was made with much fanfare to the entire Lassonde staff via satellite from the conference room at corporate headquarters, where the board of directors had assembled. Martine Girard related the visit by the inspectors, while a huge banner inscribed with the words “Certified HACCP” was hung high on the exterior walls of the two Rougemont plants.
Lassonde was the first company in Canada to earn this certification and it completed the same rigorous process again later on with its other Canadian plants.
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