Food Safety
The regulatory obligation is ours. In writing.
Importing food into the United States creates real, personal obligations. Plenty of sellers are vague about who carries them. We are not, and this page exists so your QA team can check before your buying team commits.
FSVP importer of record
Under 21 CFR 1.500-1.514, someone has to be the Foreign Supplier Verification Program importer for every line of food that enters the United States. For our programs, that is Rico's Produce. The obligation sits with us, and it is not passed to the buyer or left ambiguous on the entry.
Qualified Individual in-house
Hazard analysis and supplier evaluation are performed by a Qualified Individual on our own staff, not outsourced to a consultant who has never seen the packing house. Evaluations are reviewed on a defined cycle and re-run when a supplier, a process or a hazard changes.
USDA Organic Handler
Rico's holds its own organic handler certification, which is what allows organic product to move through import, consolidation and delivery without breaking the certified chain of custody. Organic integrity is a documentation problem, and the documentation travels with the load.
Source documentation on file
GlobalG.A.P., HACCP, BRC, GFSI-recognized programs and social audits are collected, tracked against their expiry dates and provided to your QA team before a program launches, not chased after the first container is already on the water.
Quality assurance
Documentation by origin
| Origins | Fruit supplied | Documentation collected |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | Blueberries, Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Table Grapes, Stone Fruit, Tangerines, Lemons, Limes, Avocado | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Peru | Blueberries, Table Grapes, Tangerines, Limes, Avocado | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Chile | Blueberries, Table Grapes, Apples, Pears, Cherries, Stone Fruit, Kiwi, Tangerines, Lemons, Avocado | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Guatemala | Blackberries, Limes | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Colombia | Limes, Avocado | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Honduras | Limes | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Argentina | Blueberries, Apples, Pears, Cherries, Lemons | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Uruguay | Tangerines, Lemons | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Brazil | Table Grapes | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Dominican Republic | Limes, Avocado | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| California | Blueberries, Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, Table Grapes, Apples, Pears, Cherries, Stone Fruit, Kiwi, Tangerines, Lemons, Avocado | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Washington | Blueberries, Apples, Pears, Cherries, Stone Fruit | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Oregon | Blueberries, Apples, Pears, Cherries | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Michigan | Blueberries, Apples | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| New York | Apples | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Appalachia | Apples | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Florida | Blueberries, Strawberries, Tangerines, Avocado | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Georgia | Blueberries | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| North Carolina | Blueberries | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| South Carolina | Stone Fruit | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| New Jersey | Blueberries, Stone Fruit | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
| Idaho | Apples, Cherries, Stone Fruit | GlobalG.A.P. or GFSI-recognized scheme, HACCP, third-party audit, organic certificate where applicable |
Rico's Produce contracts directly with growers and packers in each origin. Grower identities, current signed certificates and audit reports go to your QA and buying teams under a mutual NDA before a program launches.
Your QA team can have the file before your buyer commits.
Ask us for the current certificate pack and the supplier verification summary for any origin in the program.
Request the compliance file