On the right track
We worked with Ipsos, a renowned and independent firm to survey the sector. We wanted to know what our standing in the feed safety community is, which of our services the GMP+ Community values most, and how we can improve satisfaction with our certification.
The response was clear - our GMP+ Community values us, and the improvements we have planned are aligned with what the community is asking for.
Ipsos compared GMP+ International’s feed safety and feed responsibility schemes with other alternatives on a range of attributes, including quality of the certification, industry and international recognition, scope of the certification, and added value to the business. They found that “GMP+ scores better than the benchmark on all attributes, especially on international recognition, added value, quality and scope.”
Overall, respondents found that our international recognition, quality assurance, and compliance to industry requirements were reasons why they would promote our scheme and services to a colleague or business relation.
This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our community of companies, auditors, consultants, trainers, and experts. I especially want to acknowledge the commitment and passion of the GMP+ team, without which we would not have the support of our GMP+ Community.
Always improving
There is always room to grow - and we were happy to see that the improvements our GMP+ Community wants to see are those that we recognised ourselves and are already working on.
Our GMP+ certified companies previously told us that they found our Feed Support Products and GMP+ Monitoring database difficult to use, which Ipsos was able to confirm for us. We are already well underway with a project which, in partnership with our stakeholders, will make these systems more user-friendly, accessible, and give our community more control over their data.
Additionally, Ipsos confirmed that our community would like improvements to our website and portal, which are also planned. In this optimisation process we are actively involving our customers and stakeholders by testing and validating their user experience.
Some respondents also said they value certification schemes that don’t take a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. As more of our GMP+ Community transition to our updated GMP+ FC scheme 2020 they will see that we have moved away from a rules-based approach and instead focused on achieving safe outcomes, allowing companies to take a more flexible and proactive approach to feed safety management.
Under the renewed scheme we are working with principles and goals; allowing companies to find the right approach to feed safety for their unique situation. This means that companies can focus on how they manage feed safety the best, rather than just following a broad set of rules.
Together
If you want to take part in our current improvement projects then we would welcome you to get in touch. And if you have suggestions of your own you can contact us at any time, and we hope you will take part in our 2024 annual survey.
I want our community to feel reassured that when they give us recommendations, they lead to action. We are not interested in resting on our past successes, because safe and responsible feed is about what we all do today and tomorrow.