Guest View Povl Krogsgaard

ovl Krogsgaard is Vice products, as well as to preserv- Chief Executive Officer ing the environment. P (CEO) of Arla Foods. As part of our efforts to He is also the Head of Corpo- fulfil Arla’s mission, we have rate Supply Chain business established a quality programme support and staff functions, entitled Arlagården (“ the Arla which addresses milk supply, farm ”) to be used by our farmers in contact with owners, technical Denmark and Sweden. In the other issues and investment, global countries in which we operate, we procurement, quality and also adhere to equivalent national environment. and international legislation and specifications. Mr. Krogsgaard’s involvement Arla takes the entire sup- in the dairy industry goes ply chain into account – all the back a long time. Son of a way from the cow to the consumer. dairy manager, he was born The Arlagården programme speci- at a Danish dairy in 1950, fies Arla’s requirements for food and has been working in the safety and milk composition, as industry since first joining well as for animal welfare and the Danish Dairy Board in environmental protection. The 1979. Mr. Krogsgaard programme also provides speci- believes in the importance of fications for documentation and taking the consumer’s needs follow-up. into account and in driving Milk collection and trans- a business efficiently. To meet portation requirements are cov- these goals, he highlights the ered by a Hazard Analysis and usefulness of implementing a Critical Control Points (HACCP) structured and systematic quality “ Arla believes that plan which, though not certified, is based management system. International Standards are on the specifications of ISO 22000:2005, Mr. Krogsgaard holds a Master of Food safety management systems – Science in dairy engineering from the important to create and Requirements for any organization in Royal Veterinary and Agricultural maintain confidence in the food chain. University in Copenhagen, Denmark, the dairy industry.” Arla Foods has chosen to base its as well as a Bachelor of Commerce management system standards for quality, (business management and food safety and the environment on ISO organization) from the Århus In your view, what are the advan- 9000 (quality), ISO 14000 (environment), Business School in Denmark. tages of International Standards? ISO 22000 (food safety), and in a number of cases to obtain certifications to these Povl Krogsgaard : In its mission state- standards. ment, Arla Foods promises “ to offer Indeed, Arla considers the ISO modern consumers milk-based food prod- 9000 series to be the “ mother ” of quality ISO Focus : Arla is a dairy cooper- ucts that create inspiration, confidence management systems standards. The ISO ative owned by some 8 500 milk and well-being .” For Arla it is essential 14000 family of standards is regarded as producers. How do International that its operations and products do not an efficient and valuable support for sys- Standards help ensure food safety harm consumers, customers, employees tematic environmental management. ISO and contribute to facilitating Arla’s or society, and that its business enjoys a 22000, on the other hand, is perceived as international operations amongst good reputation. Arla is thus committed the international umbrella for food safety such a large group of stakeholders ? to ensuring the quality and safety of its standards.

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Food safety is basic to creating confidence in our company and its products. Our employees’ responsibility, engagement and open-mindedness are also crucial, as is the management of risks. And we are committed to meeting legal requirements and agreed standards. Arla Foods headquarters in Århus, Denmark. In this context, management systems are a key to improved business performance, as is our aspiration to build on These International Standards are also, international, rec- better known and more widely accepted ognized standards are of than any national standard (which facili- great help. tates our international operations), and are recognized by our customers. Even ISO Focus : Imple- so, there are retailers who have additional mentation of ISO demands and encourage us to also follow 22000, Food safety their own standards. management systems seems to be a central part of Arla’s approach to address generic, global food safety issues. Can you tell us more about Arla’s decision to implement ISO 22000 and the benefits it has brought to the company ? How does this imple- continual improvement. Arla’s decision mentation relate to retailer schemes in 2004 to adopt ISO 22000 (before the that currently exist, for example document was published in 2005 !) as a the Global Food Safety Initiative corporate standard for food safety was a (GFSI) and the various schemes that further step in this direction. it has benchmarked (BRC, IFS, Dutch Before ISO 22000, Arla’s food HACCP and the Safe Quality Food safety systems were based on national Institute)? and international standards, including the HACCP, BRC and the IFS. Povl Krogsgaard : Arla Foods’ Quality Now, all Arla Food dairies in Den- Policy states that “All products and serv- mark and Sweden are certified to ISO ices provided by Arla Foods meet at all 22000:2005. Arla aims to have its sites in times the consumer and customer expec- Finland, the United Kingdom, and most tations and requirements in an efficient, of its other international dairies certified competitive and sustainable way.” by no later than 2010. Such a commitment is supported by the European Union (EU) food regula- “ All Arla Food dairies tions, which encourage the development of industry-specific guidance to meet food Arla hopes that ISO 22000 will in Denmark and Sweden safety requirements – by implementing replace food retailer standards like British are certified to and maintaining the HACCP principles Retail Consortium (BRC) and the Interna- (which are included in ISO 22000) and tional Food Standard (IFS) over time, as ISO 22000:2005.” procedures for good hygienic practice. having only one all-encompassing standard Moreover, dairy companies in for food safety will help us optimize our This is achieved through compli- Denmark and Sweden, together with their operations even further. ance with Arla Foods’ mission and Code respective national milk boards, have pro- Showing “ one face, a responsible of Conduct ; a systematic approach in busi- duced national branch codes approved by face, to the consumer and to the customer ” ness processes; and continual improvements their national authorities. is an important goal of Arla. Risk assessment throughout the supply chain (involving all Although varying in structure, the provides a strong base to help us control stakeholders from suppliers to retailers to two branch codes meet the demands of the specific risk factors, and in this context consumers). EU’s food safety legislation as well as the

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Global dairy Guest View cooperative

national guidance on the EU’s legislation. Arla Foods is a dairy cooperative ISO Focus : What is your view on the Both are in compliance with ISO 22000, owned by approximately 8 500 ISO 22005 standard published in 2007, which serves as the tool for describing the milk producers in Sweden and specifying the basic requirements for branch codes to the authorities. the design and implementation of a Denmark, with production in The implementation of these ISO feed and food traceability system ? standards is promoting our ability to 12 countries, sales offices in exchange experiences with other compa- 27 countries, and products on Povl Krogsgaard : For Arla, traceability is nies or forums, which in turn helps us the market in more than 100 extremely important. Tracking and tracing conceive further improvements. It also countries. products allows us to quickly and efficient- creates an opportunity for increased devel- ly intervene in potentially dangerous situ- opment following internal audits or audits Arla Foods is a global company, ations. Even though we have an elaborate by accreditation bodies. With ISO 22000 although its main markets are food safety management system in place, it in mind, we have created our own Denmark, Sweden and the United is also important to know where a product HACCP code of practice to ensure a com- comes from and where it is going. Kingdom, to which it supplies a mon approach to its principles in all dair- As such we fully agree with the ies, and as a base for improvement. wide range of products. Globally, European Union’s legislation which states it exports many products, adapted that a feed and food producer must be able for local markets. to trace food products, one step back and one step forward. We thus have an elab- Arla Foods supplies retail and orate traceability system in place which food service products, as well traces all the way back to the farmers from as milk-based ingredients for the dairies, and forward from the dairies to the food industry. the retailers and other customers. Arla Foods has about 16 600 employees worldwide, with two- ISO Focus : ISO and the International Dairy Federation have worked together thirds working in Scandinavia, to produce over 100 International and 85 % in its home market Standards for milk-related issues. How areas of Denmark, Sweden and does Arla benefit from this work ? the United Kingdom.

Ideally, Arla Foods envisions a sin- gle standard for addressing food safety. The risk assessment methodology in HACCP is basic to all food safety risk assessment, and as we are working in a global context the International Standard ISO 22000 is well suited to our company. Such an International Standard constitutes a guarantee for consumers and customers that we produce safe products in a holistic perspective, from farm to fork. If all organizations in the supply chain use the same standard, all would benefit from sharing a common source for language and terminology, methodology and risk assessment. We follow closely the advice of the Global Food Safety Initiative – a retailer platform for the harmonization of food safety standards. As a responsible food producer, Arla is keen to follow harmonized internationally recognized requirements for food safety. However, to optimize implementation, being able to choose just one standard would help us increase our efficiency while maximizing our resources.

built on what we regard as internationally recognized principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR), as well as on our company values. Arla’s Code of Conduct already adheres to the 10 Universal Principles of the UN Global Compact on human rights, working conditions, the environment and anti-corruption. We therefore find it inter- esting that ISO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the UN Global Com- pact Office to further promote their coop- Povl Krogsgaard : We are in close direct implementation of ISO 14001? How eration on the development of ISO 26000 – and indirect contact with both organiza- can the wide portfolio of International which will be consistent with the Glo- tions through national dairy associations. Standards supporting environmental bal Compact’s 10 principles. Arla believes that internationally recog- protection, carbon emissions credits nized standards are of great value to cre- trading (e.g. ISO 14064, ISO 14065), ate and maintain confidence in the dairy energy efficiency and renewable sourc- industry amongst both local and interna- es contribute to this goal ? tional customers, as well as regulators and businesses. Arla has therefore a lot Povl Krogsgaard : For Arla, environ- to gain from this work. mental and climate issues are an intrinsic component of corporate social responsi- ISO Focus : Arla announced earlier bility. We have thus chosen to certify all this year that it aims to cut 25 % of the our dairies according to the ISO 14001 current greenhouse gas emissions from standard for environmental management its entire production and distribution systems. Similarly, we are implementing cycle by 2020. Can you elaborate on energy management systems for our dry- Arla’s environmental approach and its ing facilities. ISO 14001 allows us to align our management systems according to international practices, while providing us with a structured and systematic approach for handling environmental management – in this respect we are quite satisfied with the ISO 14000 series. One of the ways to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions is to systemat- ically work with key performance indi- cators which we strive to meet through Although Arla’s CSR commit- a number of improvement projects that tee closely follows international develop- optimize and reduce our energy and fuel ments in this area, it is still too early for us consumption. to go any further with ISO 26000. How- ever, it would be fair to say that Interna- tional Standards in general help organiza- ISO Focus : Emphasizing that sus- tions manage and organize their systems in tainability is more than environmen- a globally harmonized manner, thus mak- tal issues, Arla has recently pub- ing it easier for stakeholders to compare lished a Code of Conduct : “ Our and transact with different organizations Responsibility : Arla Foods’ Corpo- around the world. rate Social Responsibility”. What An ISO International Standard on added value, in your view, would the CSR would be no different. Such a stand- future ISO standard on social respon- ard would provide stakeholders with add- sibility (ISO 26000) bring to Arla ? ed confidence that all important CSR areas are managed and handled in a systematic Povl Krogsgaard : Looking into the and structured way. future ISO 26000 standard is in our agen- da. Currently, our Code of Conduct is

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