The importance of food quality before it reaches the consumer

A little less than a decade ago, the biggest concerns of fruit and vegetable consumers in Brazil were regarding the ripeness point, appearance and flavor, all basic attributes of the product. Retail chains were concerned with bringing the "fair into the supermarket", making their FLV sectors attractive. This sector is largely responsible for maintaining the frequency of visits to stores and receives special attention for the results it generates and also for the large losses.

Over the last decade, consumers have become increasingly concerned about what they are eating. What's behind a strawberry? This question was soon answered by Anvisa's PARA program, which recommends carrying out analyzes of pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables. Like PARA, with the aim of monitoring purchased products, supermarket chains, through their main association, created RAMA.

Confidence in a product is closely related to knowledge of its origin. Typically, products without identity do not bring consumer confidence. In an internet with images of produce and skulls coexisting, to defend a sector as important as FLV, retail chains innovated by asking their suppliers to place QR codes on packaged products and bulk boxes, with the aim of showing the consumer the origin of the products and bring the necessary trust to make the purchase sustainable. Furthermore, chains with higher purchasing volumes started to carry out quality and food safety audits on their suppliers, through an internal team or subcontracted certifier.

All this movement of those responsible for more than half of the volume of FLV sold in Brazil promoted a large selection of "suitable" suppliers. What happened to small producers? Due to difficulty in accessing the information necessary to promote basic adjustments, financial difficulties in hiring specialized professionals and logistical obstacles, are they no longer accredited suppliers? Most of them continue to supply through accredited companies, they are partners, sharecroppers, suppliers of suppliers of suppliers, Marias, Josés and many others who no longer appear.

In the last 2 years, FLV traceability has become specific legislation, drawn up jointly by MAPA and ANVISA. The challenge now is enormous. How can we truly understand the FV supply chain of retail chains? How to demonstrate the compliance of these suppliers and their subcontractors in a world where compliance Do you have your own ISO family standard? How to adapt small producers who account for more than 70% of the fruit produced? How can we stop them from giving up on production? How can you convince your children to continue producing our food?

High-cost traceability systems, audits that confirm obvious non-conformities, residue analyzes that mainly show that there is no phytosanitary support for crops of low economic interest in terms of production. Thus, more and more one name carries many others and less and less we actually know the FLV chain.

Offering accessible traceability methods, clear information for adjustments, requesting extension of use of pesticides for similar crops - these are the main solutions.

*Bárbara Mangiaterra is a specialist in agribusiness consultancy and CEO of CompartVeg, a company that has a team of specialists in different cities who train, carry out audits and promote consultancy for small, medium and large producers.