Good agricultural practices: the member farms of the Consorzio Casalasco del Pomodoro achieve G.R.A.S.P certification

For the second consecutive year the farms associated with the Consorzio Casalasco del Pomodoro have been G.R.A.S.P. certified, an additional module of the GLOBALG.A.P. standard, focused on social aspects related to the activities of agricultural workers to assess the risk of improper practices.

Good agricultural practices, in fact, do not only concern the raw material tomato, for which all Casalasco member companies have been certified in accordance with the GLOBALG.A.P. standard since 2009, but also those who cultivate it.

G.R.A.S.P., which stands for GLOBALG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice, is a voluntary module developed to assess the implementation of good social practices on farms, such as the protection of workers' health and safety and welfare.

Specifically, the module focuses on several key topics:

• worker representation,
• legal rights and access to national labor laws,
• presence of written documentation, such as contracts, pay slips, and salary definitions,
• rights of minors,
• working hours (based on national contracts).

Since 2020, all direct member farms of the Consorzio Casalasco del Pomodoro have adopted the implementation of the module, which is required by major retailers and leading sales chains, always very attentive to welfare issues and good social practices adopted by their suppliers.

The Consortium's structure, with member farms playing the dual role of owner-members and raw material suppliers, allows for a level of control and integration between the agricultural and processing phases not found in industrial supply chains. The Agronomic Department oversees the entire production chain through its technicians, in order to achieve high quality standards and ensure consumers a product harvested and processed within 24 hours.