Gamber Produce has been given an “A” grade in a British Retail Consortium audit – putting it within the top 1% in the country for health and safety and hygiene standards.

Five years ago, Gamber was packing sprouts for supermarkets but, with the constant pressure put on price, it became more advantageous to give up the supermarket business and deal with the wholesale markets which supply schools, hospitals, restaurants and hotels.

There was no longer a need for the size of packhouse required for sprouts, so the business was moved into a different building.

Gamber needed to find a way of utilising the specialist building as well as diversify after two terrible potato growing years in 2006 and 2007, both of which seriously challenged the company in terms of availability of product and quality.

In 2004, Gamber had the chance to buy a small amount of vegetable peeling equipment from an existing customer.

Gamber saw this an opportunity to diversify, especially as the customer with the equipment was keen to buy the finished peeled product. The experiment proved a success and work started on converting the sprout shed into a peeling shed in May last year and, by December, the plant was up and running ready for Christmas.

In order to serve outlets such as schools and hospitals there is a requirement for BRC certification (British Retail Consortium) which involves large amounts of paperwork to ensure that the correct health and safety traceability procedures are undertaken during the peeling process.

The audit for this was carried out on June 1 and the company achieved an “A” grade.

Managing director Patrick Lewis said that he was very pleased with the results and praised his staff for the tremendous work that they had put in to achieve the accreditation. The company now plans to offer a range of peeled products, which include potatoes, carrots, onions and many other vegetables to local catering outlets in and around Herefordshire.