Pics by Dayananda Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore

Mangalore, Jun 8 (DHNS): Campco Limited, the multi-state co-operative giant based in Mangalore, has been awarded the ISO 22000 certification pertaining to Food Safety and Food Quality for its chocolate manufacturing division. 

Announcing this at a press conference here on Monday, Campco President Konkodi Padmanabha said that the ISO 22000 certification was given to Campco Limited by SGS of Switzerland, the certification authority, for the activities of preparation, storage and dispatch of cocoa based products including chocolates, hard boiled sugar confectionery products, instant drinking chocolates and instant milk flavourings. The ISO 22000 standard is widely accepted as the model for Food Safety across the world, he added.

“It is a gift to the farmers of Karnataka and Kerala. Hundreds of farmers, workers, officials and the Board of Directors strived to bag the honour. Campco is in the process of applying for ISO 14000 pertaining to environmental management systems and OHSAS 18000 pertaining to health and safety of the system,” Padmanabha said. Customer expectations, environmental concerns, demand for organic foods, changing technology are some of the reasons which made the manufacturers to implement food safety measures, he added.

Talking about the chocolate production, he said that while the company has produced about 11,000 tonnes of chocolates in the year 2009-10, its turnover during the period was Rs 125 crore. Campco, which was founded on July 11, 1973, established a chocolate factory with an initial investment of Rs 116.7 crore in 1986. Currently, the unit produces popular chocolate brands like Melto, Cream, Fun Tan, Krunchos, Turbo, Treat, Megabite, Krust, chocolate drink Winner, and flavoured brand Funda. “Conforming of Campco’s products to International Standards provides consumers the assurance on their quality, safety and reliability which is never compromised,” Padmanabha asserted.

Sahakara Bharati National President Satish Marathe, SGS India Private Limited representative Sanjy Goshal, Campco Vice-President Srikrishna Bhat, Managing Director A S Bhat and Director Suresh Bhandary were present.