KENYA – Capwell Industries Ltd, one of the most diversified food processing enterprises in Kenya, has achieved a major milestone in the region by achieving the highly respected HACCP food safety systems certification.

The company, the leading processor of rice, maize flour, porridges, pulses and packer and distributor of wheat flour products and spaghetti has become one of the few milling companies in Kenya and the Eastern African region with a Food Safety Management System.

The certification also makes the company to be the only HACCP certified company in the processing of rice and pulses in Kenya and the region, according to the company.

“Attainment of the HACCP certification increases our consumer’s confidence in our processes and products and also improves our prospect of trading both regionally and internationally,” says the company’s CEO, Mr. Rajan Shah.

“HACCP has set a mark on food safety for Capwell industries. Stringent quality and food safety management systems have been put in place from raw material receiving, manufacturing, storage and distribution of products in line with our company goals to exceed our customers’ expectations in supply of quality and safe products,”

The decision to seek HACCP certification was in response to demand for quality and safe products from its consumers, which had come in line with exponential growth of the business, since it started operations in 1999.

According to Beatrice Opiyo, the Manager, Food Safety Certifications at the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), who presented the HACCP certificate to the company on behalf of the CEO of KEBS, Capwell Industries showed commitment towards achieving the certification and was able to put in place the right structures to enable the achievement and sustenance of the certification into the future.

The company plans to upgrade its food safety management system to the ISO 22000 standard in the near future, to compete even more aggressively globally, the CEO confirms.