Quality management in the agri-food sector. An interdisciplinary approach to the Greek apricot industry

The agri-food sector covers the supply chain extending from farm production to processing and marketing of the final products (either for food or non-food uses). Contemporary concerns about farmers' and consumers' health and safety, as well as strong social pressures for environmentally friendly agricultural production practices (e.g. integrated production/integrated farming etc.) stress the necessity for the adoption and wide dissemination of quality management schemes in the sense of conforming to certain standards. In this field, quality and its assurance, is an interdisciplinary matter, which covers the practice of identifying, listing and evaluating the critical points, in order to control physical, chemical and microbiological hazards according to desired specifications. Quality management is also targeted to minimise cost/benefit relationships of the previously mentioned procedure. The purpose of this paper is the development of an operational integrated framework dealing with the quality improvement of the Greek apricot industry under a sustainability concept, applied to all perishable horticultural products (other fruits, etc.). The apricot processing flow and alternative utilisation are analysed and quality factors are evaluated methodologically. Relative issues are also discussed. Orientations for reengineering will be given as a result. In conclusion, technical, economic and marketing aspects are discussed and policy measures are suggested.