Guaranteeing the quality and safety of exported fruits and vegetables is not only a matter of certifications or phytosanitary regulations; retaining the trust of the international markets where the products are shipped is just as important, as it will prevent rejections or reputational crises. Therefore, it is essential to enforce quality controls and have access to reliable analytical services, says Pablo Leiva Fernández. Such services have been provided for more than a decade by Tecnosoluciones through its main partner Eurofins Dr. Specht Express in Hamburg, Germany.
Pablo Leiva.
"Tecnosoluciones was created in 2007/08 to offer a solution to the Costa Rican pineapple export sector. At that time, Europe was drafting a regulation to reduce the permitted level of ethephon, a molecule widely used in the cultivation of pineapples to allow the fruit to ripen and gain color, from 2 ppm to 0.5 ppm. Exporters were faced with the need to conduct tests for this chemical and there were no laboratories in Costa Rica with relevant experience," says Pablo. "That gave rise to Tecnosoluciones and our adventure with Eurofins."
"Eventually, the draft regulation didn't go ahead; in fact, the MRL for ethephon in fresh pineapple is still 2 ppm, but we saw the need for analytical services and testing as GlobalG.A.P., formerly EurepGAP, became a necessary standard for producers to export to the various retail chains in Europe."
"It was quite a challenging transition for producers, but they understood that their customers needed these more reliable analyses. The GlobalG.A.P. standard required it and the market also demanded it. There were no laboratories carrying out this kind of tests, so Tecnosoluciones filled that gap," says Pablo Leiva Fernandez. "And we are not limited to Costa Rica. Today, 14 years later, we have country executives in different locations from where we provide support and technical advice regarding MRLs, authorized inputs or regulation changes at destination to producers in South America, Central America, the Caribbean and East Africa. These producers are connected with the best accredited laboratories in Europe, North America and Asia. Our mission, in short, is to provide added value to our customers."
"Providing solutions to customers is our goal every day"
From an analytical point of view, a distinction is made between two services clearly in demand for fruits and vegetables, both fresh and processed: contaminant analysis and nutritional and quality analysis.
"The contaminant analysis is the one carried out to check the presence of pesticide residues or heavy metals. The driver behind these analyses is usually the certifiers or certifications, quality standards or, failing that, the end buyer. As for the microbiological aspect, it will be dictated by regulations or internal quality controls," says Pablo. "Meanwhile, quality and nutritional analyses in the lab are linked to the research and development part. The idea is to add value to foods and help them stand out in the market."
However, not only harvested products are subject to analyses. The anthropogenic addition of chemical agents to the soil is an important cause of the presence of residues in food, but it cannot be forgotten that the soil is a fixation medium for plants -with a great adsorption capacity- and on which their nutrition depends, so its safety, as well as that of all the physical elements involved in the fruit chain that can generate cross-contamination, or even water, is equally important.
"At Tecnosoluciones we support producers and exporters aiming for constant improvement with reliable analyses. Providing solutions to customers is our goal every day. We try to add value and do things differently; we are not just another service. Markets keep asking for quality, and having quality analyses, testing and laboratories is essential to be able to produce reliably for the export market."
"This year, we have also been present again at trade fairs. We attended Fruit Logistica, in Berlin, were in early April, and we will be at Biofach, in Nuremberg, from July 26 to 29," says Pablo Leiva.
For more information:
Tecnosoluciones
Parque Industrial Condal,
Pavas, San José, Costa Rica
Tel.: +506 2231 1440
info@tecnosolucionescr.net
https://tecnosolucionescr.net