Discuss the importance of administering reports.

On March 11th, I went to Wawona Frozen Foods company. It is a large industrial place in Clovis. Wawona Frozen Foods company specializes in packaging freshly picked fruits as well as freezing fruits and juices. It is a very important company for the San Joaquin Valley. Their first location was actually established over 50 years ago and are now some of the best processors, growers, and supply many places with their goods. It is and always has been a family operated business and they ship over 65 million tons of their products annually. The wooden cartons and crates for the fruits are mostly stacked outside and are in plain view.

“the process of freezing fresh fruit delivers fruit at the optimum standards for color, sweetness and texture. Unlike canning which requires very firm fruit, fresh frozen allows us to select fruit that mimics the fresh picked appearance and taste of fruit picked at maturity. This also allows us greater control over product specific criteria, such as ideal firmness and brix context.” (Wawona, 2013)

It was raining that day and I noticed that the company had taken the initiative of properly covering the electrical outlets that were exposed outdoors with plastic in order to avoid any type of electrical accident. I met with the on site supervisor named Doug and one lady who worked in the check-in station. I found this company to be set up in a simple manner and yet it is very well organized and secured.

One of the first things I noticed is that they were very specific about the security on the work site. This is a very safe procedure because they said if random people came on site without checking in, they could get lost or caught between the machinery and that could clearly be risk for injury and of course a law suit. The staff is very diligent in the way they carry out their work and I noticed that all of the machinery and anything having to do with electricity was actually very stable and safe. I have seen other places where chords look chewed up and quite unsafe but that was not the issue with Wawona. While the staff was slightly reluctant to answer a lot of my questions, I do believe that at least I was able to ask and find out about some of the more important aspects of their company. They have several protocols that they follow on a daily basis such as certain check lists that they use when carrying out the packing process. They also have other sets of procedures that they use and have ready in case of an emergency.

“To assure the goals and disciplines are implemented fully, Wawona Frozen Foods has assigned staff and service resources sufficient to implement and maintain the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), selecting the SQF 2000 level 2 systems audit scheme for verification.” (Wawona, 2013)

I learned about so many types of machines that are used to package and clean produce and how important it is to go through this process before being sold. I also learned that there is actually a lot of training that goes into working at Wawona, despite what some may think. They have very high standards when it comes to the cleanliness and quality of their goods which are mostly peaches. I was happy when I was given some of the samples to taste.

“The original wooden shed has become a quaint storefront; the workers are now local high school or junior high students learning how to work a first job; and you will find local honey, jams, jellies, and a freezer stalked with fresh frozen products joining our peaches. But what hasn’t changed is the desire to provide quality products to our community while working together as a family.” (Wawona, 2013)

Their refrigeration facilities were like nothing I have ever seen. They actually called them temperature controlled storage facilities. They were in the back part of the lot where Wawona is located and those building is very heavily looked over and checked ono because if the temperature changes of gets messed up, this could ruin a large quantity of their products which could spoil them and time and a significant amount of money would be lost.

After going around the facilities for a bit, I was informed about how safety and health conscious Wawona company is and they also told me about some of the practices they use in their daily routines at work. They said that economical and practical methods in order to protect certain work areas, improve conditions in the air, soil, water quality, and wildlife sources. They also conserve a significant amount of nonrenewable resources. They are very much into recycling and reusing as many things as possible since they are quite environmentally cautious. Another thing they do is the tracking and reduction of water irrigation and try.

While they are very health and safety conscious, Doug mentioned to me some of the improvements and areas where they need to continue put more focus on to be better.
They said that they aim to pay attention to tracking the amount materials used for recycling. They try to recycle as much as possible but did look to pose somewhat of a safety threat because collecting such a large amount of garbage and used goods. Below are some of the items that they collect.

· ○ Fluorescent lights 


· ○ Spray cans 


· ○ Oil, oil filters 


· ○ Scrap iron, wood 


· ○ Electronics 


· ○ Peach pits for use as charcoal and used in biomass generators and also used as road base for dust control 


· ○ Cardboard, paper, fiber 


· ○ Used pallets 


· ○ Batteries 


They put a lot of work into organizing their staff and all the tasks that must be carried out for orders, packing, cleaning, and sorting out the products. Nothing really seemed overlooked to me in my opinion because everyone already had a very good idea of what to do on their own. I noticed a lot of the staff and employees constantly checking off lists and jotting down thing inside of books that are kept near the machines and in certain rooms to documents what jobs were done and if the machines were running properly at all times. I have been to several facilities throughout my life but I can say with certainty that this is one of the most efficiently run businesses that I have ever seen in my life and I honestly had no idea about what people and companies go through in order to properly package and store the foods that we eat.

High quality goods can only be produced and distributed from a place that is safe and organized. They make sure that their team members and employees must go through continuous training and workshops in order to maintain the latest safely and health codes. I saw a large list of health codes and rules set up by the state and other government organizations that needed to be followed by food companies all over California and if these rules were not followed they could risk losing their company and licenses. Doug explained how import it was for employees to be hygienic and be wearing the proper attire to work for their safety and the cleanliness of their high quality products.

“Our policies regarding quality and food safety is communicated by our trained, knowledgeable staff to all employees. Our supervisors from all departments communicate our good manufacturing practices and food safety, bringing accountability to all on the production floor. Employee involvement is actively solicited and effective communications is essential in maintaining the satisfaction of our customers.” (William S. Smittcamp, President)