Friboi, the Brazil-based division of JBS S.A., Brazil, increased the average number of monthly laboratory analysis by 19.7% in 2018 to 63.3 thousand to drive ongoing development of its internal food quality and safety standards.

This increase follows a 2-year $5 million investment in refurbishment, personnel training, construction and equipment at the company’s laboratories. These units are strategically located to serve Friboi’s 31 processing plants. 

“The commitment to food quality and safety underpins all Friboi operations, and that commitment is reflected by our constantly evolving quality standards. In addition to diagnosing more samples in-house, which provides more reliable and faster results, we have increased the number of analyses delivered on time by 33% in the past four years, reaching 96.2% efficiency,” says Emilia Raucci, Friboi’s quality director.

With this additional investment, the new laboratories will be automated and use digital technologies, increasing their capacity to analyze all output using predictive visibility diagnostics, which will further increase the speed and safety to detect any product non-conformities. Four units now also hold certification under the ABNT NBRISO/IEC 17025 Standard.  

Friboi will also debut a new unit in Redenção in the first quarter of this year. It will be capable of carrying out 3.5 thousand diagnoses a day.