07

The value of people

07

The value of people

Our contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals

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Our activities contribute to the following

SDG SDG target 8.5 By 2030 achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and people with disabilities, and equal pay for jobs of equal value

SDG target 8.8 Protect labor rights and promote a safe and secure work environment for all workers, including migrant workers, particularly migrant women, and those in precarious employment

SDG target 3.9 By 2030 substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination

SDG target 8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent work creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formation and growth of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

SDG target 10.2 By 2030 enhance and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, regardless of age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status

Our contributors

ICAB employees are covered by the CCNL Food and Industry. To date, ICAB does not provide any kind of welfare and there are no special benefits. However, a small production bonus with a very modest value is recognized as an incentive for the work done.

Employees with permanent contracts total 41, divided between clerical and blue-collar workers, to which be added 287 seasonal employees during the campaign period, which runs from July to September. With respect for diversity and inclusion, our staff includes. one employee of Moroccan nationality and one of Romanian nationality.

The selection process follows a specific process. At the recruitment stage, a fixed-term contract is offered, which eventually turns into an open-ended one. In February 2022, two internship contracts were activated for the positions of electrician and mechanic lasting six months each. Selections are usually made in the May/June period, at which time a resume screening is conducted and, through interview, candidates' skills are assessed. Where a candidate does not have the required experience, a short training course is provided through shadowing more experienced colleagues.

In the January-July period, the work is carried out on 5 days for a total of 8 hours per day without shifts. During peak production, that is, in the campaign period, work on Two shifts Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 10 p.m..

During this period, additional workers are hired on seasonal contracts under the Food and Industry collective bargaining agreement. The classification level is V for general laborer and IV for more specialized laborer (e.g., skilled in driving forklifts). Over the past two years, the placement of non-EU personnel has increased. Prior to the start of the campaign, vacations of 15 days per person are scheduled on a rotating basis during March-May.

As a matter of company policy, we try to avoid the use of overtime in the January-June period. In case of special needs we try to manage it by falling within the maximum 48 hours per month allowed by the contract. Even during the campaign we try to adhere to the maximum hours of 7 per day and are guaranteed a day off (shifts run from Monday to Saturday).

No employees took parental leave in 2022.

Staff are often involved in training. In fact, the company provides training activities to all employees, department heads and managers, organizing specific training courses in-house for each category of workers. Training activities are carried out by both internal staff and specialized external consultants and are aimed at creating a Culture of quality, food safety, occupational safety, specialization in work activities with an important impact on processes and safety.

The training activity covers: product safety and Food Defense; hygiene of personnel, machinery and equipment, and workplaces; workplace behavioral norms; information management for product traceability; process controls; pest management; process water management; waste management; occupational safety, fire training and evacuation simulations; first aid; forklift driving. In addition to these courses, training is provided to specialized figures in the 4.0 machine management, X-ray machines, metal detectors.

ICAB also conducts training to its tomato suppliers on agronomic aspects.

Our activities contribute to the following SDG:SDG target 8.5

A safe place

At ICAB we care about the health and safety of our employees. Occupational health and safety management is strongly anchored in the requirements of the D. Lgs. 81/2008 and to the DVR; the risk assessment process takes place continuously as part of the DVR update. Hazards inherent in the various equipment and machines used are identified, and measures are identified to lower the risk in terms of magnitude (purchase of new machines) or in terms of probability (training and awareness). We adopt processes to identify the presence of possible hazards at work and to assess risks in order to minimize and eliminate hazards. The identification of hazards starts with the definition of production processes and, therefore, the presence of facilities (power distribution, gas, steam), machines and equipment (industrial trucks, trucks, GVR, systems for washing, tomato peeling and high temperature pasteurization of passata, etc., equipment used in the workshop) with inherent potential hazard. In order to reduce the risk, in recent times, many dated machines and equipment have been replaced with more modern ones made with special attention to reduce the risk related to their use to the maximum, for example: electric trucks with reduction of pollution, noise and mechanical vibration risks, complete lines for tomato peeling and puree production and packaging with reduction of burns, noise and incorrect posture risks.


The main risks present within our company are:

  • Safety hazards or accident hazards. They are responsible for the potential occurrence of accidents or injuries, i.e., damage or physical impairment (more or less severe) suffered by persons engaged in various work activities, as a result of physical-traumatic impact of various kinds (mechanical, electrical, chemical, thermal, etc.).

The causes of such risks are to be found, at least in the majority of cases, in an inadequate arrangement of the safety features inherent in: the work environment, the machines and/or equipment used, the mode of operation, the organization of work, etc. The risks are:

- Fire

- Explosive atmospheres

- Moving and lifting equipment

- Welding and plasma cutting

  • Health hazards or hygienic-environmental risks.. They are those responsible for the potential impairment of the biological balance of personnel engaged in operations or work involving the release of environmental risk factors into the environment. The hazards may be chemical, physical and biological in nature, resulting in exposure of the personnel involved.

- Physical agents: noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields, man-made optical radiation, microclimate

- Chemical/carcinogenic agents

- Biological agents: pathogenic microorganisms

The causes of these risks are to be found in the occurrence of unsuitable hygienic-environmental conditions due to the presence of environmental risk factors generated by processing (process and/or equipment characteristics) and operating modes, and are due to chemical, physical or biological agents.

  • Cross-cutting or organizational risks. They can be identified within the complex articulation that characterizes the relationship between the operator and the work organization in which he or she is embedded. The relationship is immersed in a framework of compatibility and interactions that is not only ergonomic but also psychological and organizational. The risks are:

- Risk arising from equipment using video display terminals

- Work-related stress

There are also special risks concerning female workers during pregnancy and up to seven months of the child's age, treated in accordance with Legislative Decree 151/2001.
The quality of these processes is ensured by the information, training and, where applicable, training of personnel and the awareness of each of the employees that personal and collective safety depends greatly on the behavior of the individual. In the event of accidents or "near misses" or reports of occupational diseases, the company DVR and, where applicable, the EEP should be updated.

A worker who becomes aware of an activated hazardous situation reports it directly or through the RLS to the Employer or RSPP so that immediate action can be taken to restore the situation to an acceptable level of risk. Ways to physically remove oneself from hazardous situations that, for various reasons, may occur are outlined in the EEP. In order to avoid or reduce as much as possible the possibility of a having an injury or contracting an occupational disease, much emphasis is placed on information, education and training and continuous awareness in the constant and correct use of PPE (hearing protectors, masks, gloves, etc.) and the correct application of procedures (MMC, respecting the speed of the trucks, respecting the indicated routes, etc.).

In the case of an accident (injury, "near-injury" and occupational disease), an attempt should be made to trace the causes that caused it, through information provided by the protagonists and anyone who can provide useful elements to its genesis and dynamics.

There is an occupational health services function in the company that contributes to the identification and elimination of hazards and minimization of risks. The activity carried out by the designated competent doctor consists of assessing the health status of the worker and, in particular, assessing the risk of noise, and/or alcoholism and drug addiction, signaling to the company through the judgment of suitability, the use of protective equipment for the worker or the need not to assign him/her to tasks that pose risks to himself/herself and other employees. The doctor conducts the examinations directly in the company with the help of mobile unit and informs the worker of the results. Worker relations are handled through the company for bookings or administrative issues, while for health management, the worker is contacted through personal contacts that he or she releases to us at first access along with data consent.

In addition to the figures mentioned above, the safety organization chart also includes first aid officers and fire prevention, firefighting and emergency management officers.

Processes exist to facilitate worker participation and consultation on occupational health and safety, and in order to provide access to and communicate relevant information. Consultation and participation take place in the form of workshops in which participants are involved through questions and in the context of which they can propose solutions and alternatives. In addition, once every 15 days, the RSPP is available for consultation and possible collection of solutions to problems or for reporting issues that have arisen. A box for anonymous reports is also available to staff.

All workers, their representatives and personnel with specific duties have been informed, trained and instructed as required by Articles 36, 37 and 71 of Legislative Decree 81/08 et seq. and State-Regions Agreement No. 221/CSR of 21-12-2011. Operators of forklifts are trained and updated as required by Art. 75, c. 3 of Legislative Decree 81/08 and State-Regions Agreement No. 53/CSR of 22-02-2012. The conductor of steam generators holds the qualification provided for in the Ministerial Decree of August 7, 2020. The issue of training is more acute for seasonal workers: a couple of training days (4+12 hours) are organized for them as they carry out activities considered high risk.

Our activities contribute to the following SDG: SDG target 8.8

Quality made in the South

ICAB's philosophy is to ensure the safety of those who consume the product. The management of ICAB SpA is committed to a policy that places the customer at the center of the company's activities. In particular, customer satisfaction is pursued through moments of verification and updating on issues related to the products offered. The customer assumes a central role in ICAB's success and, therefore, it becomes important to know him thoroughly in order to deliver products that meet his needs and to achieve high customer satisfaction.

Satisfying the customer for ICAB means realizing. legal, safe products From a sanitation point of view, quality and authentic. ICAB pursues these objectives through compliance with the applicable requirements set forth in the BRC, IFS and ISO 22005 standards, as well as through the prevention of hazards by assessing risks associated with production processes, environmental pollution risks associated with its own production activities, and risks associated with suppliers' activities and products. In addition, ICAB is committed to producing safe products that comply with the applicable laws in its field of expertise, its own quality specifications, and those of its customers, to whom it assumes product responsibility.

In addition, the company is transparent in the market about GMOs, allergens and anything else that may put both the environment and consumer health and safety at risk. To this end, ICAB SpA has implemented and maintains an active Quality, Environment and Food Safety Management System whose main objectives are:

  • Use raw materials exclusively from integrated production and GMO-free processing aids with a minimum content of contaminants;
  • Prevent the risk of microbiological and chemical/physical contamination of products through systematic controls of critical process points;
  • Implement every effort in organizational, operational and technological terms to prevent water, air and soil pollution;
  • Continuously update and keep the company's Self-Control Plan active;
  • Minimize energy and water consumption and waste generation by encouraging their recovery wherever possible;
  • Properly manage all types of waste in order to promote its reuse or proper disposal while minimizing environmental impact;
  • To realize the Environmental Policy by making human and financial resources available, but also by aiming for ever greater efficiency of production processes and their continuous revision;
  • Motivate the entire corporate structure in order to prevent environmental pollution;
  • Implement and maintain a Quality, Environment and Food Safety system that complies with ISO 14001:2015, BRC, IFS and all applicable legislation;
  • Implement sales and marketing actions to strengthen their market and increase sales;
  • To promote the responsibility and sensitivity of employees engaged at every level in company activities through the development of a "Quality and Safety Culture Plan" for the purpose of raising awareness, making aware and responsible all those employees whose activities may have a major impact on the safety, quality, legality and authenticity of products;
  • Give preference to suppliers who show attention to improving the quality of their products and have carried out environmentally friendly initiatives;
  • Actively participate in quality and environmental research programs in collaboration with public and private research centers..;
  • Maintain an active management system for ethical-social and legal aspects that complies with the main current and applicable laws.

The Executive Board, for the purpose of continuous improvement, undertakes to review the set goals and objectives quarterly.
The systems in place are not only limited to analysis on the finished product, but also on the raw material and packaging.

During the production process, the following are preserved more than 1,500 tons per day of tomato, through harvest mechanization and transplant scheduling calendars agreed upon with farmers in the supply chain. Once the tomatoes arrive at the plant, they are weighed, washed in tanks with water insufflation and transferred to control centers where technologically advanced optical sorters discard defective or not fully ripe fruit. This is followed by more thorough stages of cleaning with high-pressure water jets in order to remove all impurities. Then the fresh tomato is sent to the manual sorting and processing lines.

Fresh tomato canning ends with the final steps of pasteurization and packaging, associated with cooling and drying.

The production process is guaranteed by the application of the HACCP self-control plan that helps monitor critical points in the production process:

  • Product acidity;
  • Cooking;
  • Closing the boxes.

This data is checked on an hourly basis to ensure that critical points are within the established ranges. At the end of the process, if the standards are met, the finished product is considered safe according to all the parameters required by the regulations, and the products can be labeled, packaged, and palletized.

La Fiammante preserves only freshly harvested tomatoes: during the months of processing, ICAB produces 1,000,000 packages per day, for a total of millions of pieces per year, spot-checked every hour (for a total of 200 products analyzed per day), rigorously photographed one by one under X-ray. La Fiammante Quality Control laboratories perform more than 1,700 daily checks on the production process, with 80 microbiological and 350 chemical and physical analyses per day. In addition, ICAB samples and has accredited laboratories analyze the tomatoes supplied by each producer; in 2022, 113 analyses were carried out on as many samples on which, when phytosanitary product residues were found, they never exceeded 27% of the maximum residue allowed by the limits set by the Ministry of Health.

At the time the raw material reaches the plant, quality control is carried out on the basis of a few representative samples. To assess the acceptability of the tomato, either a number of bins representative of the entire batch or a random sample from bulk loads representative of at least 10 kg of product are taken at random. Multiresidual analyses are then performed on each batch prior to acceptance. If these analyses show the presence of traces of pesticides that are not permitted or are beyond the limits adopted by ICAB, the cargo is rejected.

The analysis of the representative sample reveals the values of quality parameters, such as major and minor defects, which determine the final price according to three tables:

  • Table A - Inerts - Foreign bodies (major defects).
  • Table B - Green and rotten (major defects)
  • Table C - % defects and % price change (minor defects)

The total sum of the defects in Tables A and B shall not exceed the 13% limit.

Tomatoes with minor defects include crushed or split fruit, red-colored immature fruit with traces of green, dematured fruit, sunburned fruit, and fruit with lesions of mechanical origin. Where these defects occur, the final price varies according to Table C.

The sum by weight of tomatoes that have defects in the above Table cannot exceed 15% by net cargo weight.

In addition to these checks, we verify that agricultural suppliers handle fertilizer and pesticide containers with disposals required by regulations, acquiring disposal certificates.

The number of total complaints received (including those from B2B customers), including those related to marketed legumes, is 23. If legumes are not considered, they are 16, mainly related to the presence of mold or foreign bodies (e.g., insects, pieces of plastic). No production batch has ever been withdrawn from the market.

The Quality Assurance Department oversees consumer health and safety, and all production steps are certified by external bodies according to certifications such as BRC, IFS and ISO 22005 and Kosher.

Our activities contribute to the following SDG: SDG target 3.9

Standing alongside the community

ICAB stands by the most vulnerable people through an unwavering commitment to trying to promote labor inclusion while trying to combat the scourge of caporalism. Starting with the 2022 production period, the company has hired 9 non-EU people and migrants in distress at risk of exploitation by corporals through a partnership with the association No Cap and in collaboration with other associations such as Southern Frontier, as well as the Archdiocese of Salerno and the Diocese of Teggiano Policastro.

No Cap was founded about 12 years ago with the aim of combating caporalato in agriculture and promoting respect for human, social, and environmental rights. In 2017, it converted into a full-fledged association that recently took the legal form of a Third Sector Entity. More generally, the organization seeks to promote responsible consumption education through sustainable agriculture and the construction of an ethical supply chain that respects workers' rights and imposes the right price on farmers.

Professional volunteers contribute to the Association in different areas of expertise such as international cooperation, agronomy, law, engineering, circular and digital economy, communication and marketing.

Our activities contribute to the following SDGs: SDG target 8.3 - SDG target 10.2

Social indicators

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