Giovanni Food Company, Inc. Successfully Completes Their First Annual NSF Cook & Thurber Third Party Audit

SYRACUSE, N.Y., Sept. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- NSF is one of the most widely-respected and recognized global third-party certification providers in the country. NSF Cook & Thurber has developed a unique approach to process based food safety and security auditing. The process is centered around a pragmatic "continuous improvement" philosophy where "expectations" are identified based on years of practical in-plant food processing experience. By using in-plant auditor observations, expectations are revised annually to create successful procedures that represent the latest best practices on safeguarding food manufacturing processes. The end result is a system that improves on an ongoing basis.

NSF Cook & Thurber has a scoring approach that allows facility management to measure their programs against best industry practices and identifies unique or out of the ordinary situations that are above normal situations. The audit report describes to their customers, in a narrative word picture, the practices and procedures of the facility, while identifying deviations, if present, along with suggestions for improvements. Giovanni Foods scored as "Meets or Exceeds Audit Expectations" which is exactly what they had hoped to score and plan to maintain this score in the audits to follow annually.

This audit will allow Giovanni Foods to enter some of the more competitive markets and gain access to some of the larger store chains which require such certification. "We decided to undergo this audit in order to demonstrate our willingness to let an independent, third party organization review our facilities as part of our ongoing commitment to manufacturing quality, food safe products for both our branded products and private label customers worldwide," says General Manager Louis DeMent.

The company has their own brands of value products; including Luigi Giovanni Pasta Sauce and Jose Pedro Salsa, and is preparing to launch a line of premium products under the brand Greenview Kitchen. Having completed this successful audit, they hope to have more opportunities to gain distribution and get their own brands onto store shelves.

Established in 1934, the Giovanni Food Company Inc. started manufacturing pasta sauce when  the DeMent family first opened their Italian-style restaurant  in Oswego, NY and their customers would ask to take the sauce home. Over the past 20 years, the company has also become recognized as a leading private label manufacturer of tomato based products. In 2009, they purchased the Ventre Packaging Facility in Syracuse, NY which has allowed them to upgrade many aspects of production and expand their production capabilities.

About Giovanni Food Company, Inc.

Giovanni Food Company, Inc. is a manufacturer of tomato based products. They are located on Court Street Road, in Syracuse, NY and produce both their own brands and many private label brands as well. The company manufactures pasta sauce, pizza sauce, and other specialty tomato based products. They have the capability to pack in retail sizes as well as institutional sizes. They are known as an industry leader for producing USDA spaghetti sauce and tomato juice.

Giovanni Food Company, Inc., located at 6050 Court Street Road in Syracuse, has been manufacturing a variety of homemade sauces and tomato-based products since 1934. For additional information, please contact (315) 457-2372, email them at [email protected], or visit them online at www.giovannifoods.com.

SOURCE Giovanni Food Company, Inc.