Quality assurance for products and services is a non-negotiable commitment at JBS. Based on pillars that include innovation, quality and guarantee of origin, the Company tracks from production to sale. A multi-channel system receives any grievances and complaints customers and consumers may have in relation to products and the many aspects of the business.
All Friboi production units hold certifications from the Federal Inspection Service (SIF) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), certifying the Company to export and sell its products on the domestic market.
I buy the brand because it has a standard of quality that I know is right for me. In my view, the Swift difference is the stores and the service the people provide. It's practically another part of my home."
JBS business units in Brazil develop actions oriented toward fulfilling quality commitments in the foods area as well as in products and services. At all JBS foods business units, this process is connected directly to the Global Food Safety and Quality Assurance Department, headquartered in the United States and reporting to the Global CEO (learn more in Food Safety and Quality).
Each Business Unit has a specialized team, who oversee the Food Safety and Quality Assurance Programs, in collaboration with the Global Department.
Friboi
The quality assurance process at Friboi is based on rigorous management, built on four pillars: safety, quality, protection against fraud and protection against contamination.
Food safety
Protect food from contamination by agents that could be found in the production chain.
Food quality
Assure compliance with pre-established food characteristic and performance standards, and meet industry, customer and consumer specifications in an effort to standardize products.
Protection against food fraud
Protect against deliberate food fraud caused to generate economic gains by tampering with products or providing false information.
Food defense
Protect food from international contamination that is unlikely to occur in the production chain.
Food Safety and Quality Assurance management at JBS is based on monitoring three areas:
Friboi has a policy of continual quality improvement for its processes and products, perfectly meeting the needs of its customers and shareholders, and of investing in team member training, consumer safety assurance, and following legal, community and environmental requirements, with a focus on sustainable development.
Actions include everything from careful procurement of raw materials to audits of product display standards at points of sale, up to strict controls in the production and distribution process. To assure each step of the process, teams and customers are trained, with annual refreshers for other process agents, including exchange of experiences on best practices.
Among the main actions adopted to ensure that the products that reach consumers meet the highest standards of qualityand safety are management and food-related risk assessment systems, committees and discussion forums with area specialists, certification processes, and accurate labeling systems, in addition to regular internal and external audits and inspections of the Company’s facilities by health missions as well as by customers.
Friboi invests in modernization and continual improvement of its Food Safety and Quality Assurance area, investing R$ 214 million in 2019. The Company maintains laboratories at its units around the world that specialize in microbiological and biotechnology analyses, providing indicators of food safety for its various brands, assuring product quality.
Friboi has been RA 1000 Seal-certified by Reclame Aqui since 2018. One of the most important initiatives in the Customer Service sector in Brazil, this seal is proof of certified companies’ commitment to aftersales service, in addition to a high degree of trust in their brands, products and services. One of the initiatives that helped to consolidate Friboi in this ranking was social media monitoring, done in an effort to understand consumer needs, from involvement to final resolution with the Customer Service Center.
Internally, Friboi developed its Continued Improvement Cycle (CMC) program, fostering studies on improvements to production processes and allowing for recognition of projects and their creators, replicating some of these good practices at other units. The program is based on formation of teams by Company team members, who map opportunities for improvements, to develop and apply solutions. Results are measured and presented at local and national conventions, where there is an intense exchange of knowledge and suggestions, aimed at enhancing and replicating the best projects.
In 2019, the Company strengthened relations between customers and livestock producers, reinforcing transparency in adopting good sustainability and production practices. In addition, a partnership agreement was signed with the Brazilian Nelore Breeders Association (ACNB), participating in 26 rounds of the Nelore Circuit, allowing producers to closely monitor performance and quality.
During the year, Friboi also made progress in its Supply Chain Protocol program, certifying compliance with criteria that assure food safety and meet the highest standards of customers and consumers. Notable among improvements is the creation of a specific page for this topic on the JBS intranet, to consult certifications, a check list, training and other documents related to the protocol; its application to a group of fresh and prepared food products for export; and, moreover, establishment of a new visual identity, to facilitate communication and understanding of the importance of this initiative.
The Supply Chain Protocol brings together strict protocols on topics such as animal welfare, traceability, sustainability, operation, production, quality, industrialization and marketing. Parameters for the Protocol are adopted based on internationally recognized initiatives, such as the British Retail Consortium (BRC), European Union Regulation 1099 on Animal Welfare, the AMI Protocol on Animal Welfare in the United States, and the European Union Regulation on Traceability
In order to guarantee certification, the production units undergo a five-step process that includes, among them, a gap analysis, which is done by an outside consulting firm, and specific training. All Brazil units operate according to the guidelines of the Protocol and undergo annual external audits, performed by the Brazilian Certification System (SBC). In 2019, all 36 Friboi production units passed and kept their seals.
Itumbiara (GO)
JBS Couros
It is a policy at JBS Couros to perfectly meet its customers’ needs, investing in team member development and continually improving processes and products. To do this, quality management is built on four guiding pillars:
• Management and standardization systems: aimed at assuring that all JBS Couros units work in a standardized and systematic manner, aimed at attaining minimum variability in processes and products, resulting in customer satisfaction.
• Customers: quickly and effectively meet, process and respond to customer requests.
• Quality control: guarantee that products are always authorized according to customer specifications and the JBS Couros quality standard.
• Laboratory: assure that products are tested according to standards set by JBS Couros, the customer and nationally and internationally recognized standards.
To assure leather quality, constant monitoring should be applied across the chain, which is why Quality team members undergo frequent training and are present from control and survey of raw material data, to verifying all inputs used in the process, and up through detailed assessment and authorization of the final product according to global standards. To do this, the Company has laboratories specialized in leather analysis at its units around the world, providing indicators showing that products meet the strictest standards of quality.
JBS Couros holds ISO 9001:2015 quality management system certification at 12 plants, in addition to IATF 16949:2016 (auto industry standards) certification at three plants and SIF (Federal Inspection Service) approval to supply shavings and clippings at ten production units. One plant holds NBR 16296 certification, the national Brazilian Leather Certification of Sustainability (CSCB) standard.
The Company moreover has 17 units certified by the Leather Working Group (LWG), all of which received top marks in traceability, in which the Company is a market leader. The LWG is an international initiative made up of companies, retail chains and suppliers, promoting efficient and sustainable environmental practices in the leather industry.
JBS Couros also invests in quality, aimed at modernizing its processes and services. In 2019, R$ 57 million was invested.
Friboi
At Friboi, innovation seeks to differentiate products in the market; it involves technology and a relationship of intense partnership with suppliers, including learning about all of the possibilities in its portfolio and working to develop them. Demands related to this topic are forwarded to Research and Development (R&D) teams, which then study solutions.
In the area of packaging, the main results were gains in increasing the number of products per box shipped, resulting in fewer cardboard boxes being used. In financial terms, savings from innovations in cardboard boxes equaled R$ 10 million per year, not to mention the environmental gains from reducing raw material usage based on transported product weight.
One highlight of innovation at Friboi is in the Sourcing area. The Company developed an unprecedented service and sales platform for feeder cattle, Friboi Pecuarista.
Another initiative worth mentioning is logistical transport via train, which currently accounts for 36% of Friboi’s operations. This investment lowers operation costs and guarantees logistical agility, while also reducing the greenhouse gas emissions used in transporting the same product volume.
Swift
One of the most innovative businesses at JBS, Swift has a business model with a unique and differential strategy to providing services, with Company stores and stores at retail partners, in addition to online stores.
With a comprehensive control system across its production chain, from selecting animals to strict temperature controls during transport and display at points of sale, Swift’s mission is to change how people consume and purchase protein.
This same care is found in the production process. Alternative distribution models, such as vans that function as mobile points of sale, and delivery service, offering a unique experience, with almost immediate delivery or the ability to schedule deliveries, also show the business’ capacity for innovation.
JBS Couros
Aimed at developing products with greater added-value, such as semi-finished and finished products, JBS Couros constantly invests in research, development and innovation. The Company’s Conceria Priante unit serves luxury and premium markets, with a production facility and research and development center in Italy. This region is a reference in leather and a hub of innovation development, bringing together the world’s top specialists in materials, machinery and equipment, and chemical products, in addition to its proximity to the Milan fashion market.
With 20 dedicated professionals, the Conceria Priante R&D center is tasked with creating disruptive and incremental innovations for the Company’s products and processes, with a capacity to create four product innovations daily. Notable among them are the use of biopolymers in the production process and the use of renewably-sourced finishes like waxes, caseins and protein- and silica-based products.
To boost the production process and results, JBS Couros has established partnerships with customers, the chemical and equipment industries and academic researchers. One of the partners, who conducts radical innovations aimed at saving water and chemicals in retanning leather, supported JBS Couros in the production of Kind Leather, a type of leather with a 46% savings in water and a 41% reduction in formulation costs (see more on the following page).
In 2019, over 4,000 projects and 2,000 R&D samples were made in the leathers division. The chief improvements included creating new leather goods for customers, optimizing industrial processes, samples to increase new customer numbers and analytical procurement of statistical databases.
Targets aimed at items such as planning assertiveness, deadlines for submitting developments and samples, approval levels for projects and costs, and others, were all met by the business. Investments in innovation totaled R$ 1.9 million.
Kind Leather project
In 2019, JBS Couros launched Kind Leather sustainable leather. With a more efficient and innovative production process, this new leather offers the industry and society a range of relevant environmental, social and economic benefits, through smart use of raw materials and resources, traceability, sustainable origin and eco-efficiency.
The Kind Leather philosophy consists of a belief that in order for a material to be truly sustainable, the entire production chain should be considered in its use. That means that it is not enough for a given material to be produced sustainably throughout the process if a considerable amount of it is discarded at the factory as waste. That is why JBS Couros, through Kind Leather, has offered the industry the solution kindest to the world: remove the hide parts that are not as frequently used right at the start of the process, since this material can still be used as raw material in other industries, such as the pharmaceutical and food industries. This means waste is turned into raw material, making a significant contribution to the entire chain’s sustainability.
The Company only works with raw materials produced according to the highest sustainability global standards.This guarantees that leather comes from areas not affected by deforestation, invasion of indigenous lands or conservation unit, forced labor conditions, rural violence and agrarian conflicts.
Project sustainability data
JBS Novos Negócios
JBS Novos Negócios works with management of related businesses and seeks to add value to coproducts of animal origin, such as biodiesel, collagen, personal care and cleaning products, natural casings, solid waste management solutions, recycling, metal packaging and transportation.
The goal of the Company’s Research & Development (R&D) team is to transform resin generated by the Company into new products.
In 2020, JBS Ambiental hopes to move forward in growing its share of recyclable products and expanding the number of waste management branches at JBS units.
JBS Ambiental in Lins (SP)
With factories in Lins (SP) and Campo Verde (MT), JBS Biodiesel was the first company in the industry to receive authorization from the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) to participate in a new policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil, through certificates to sell Decarbonization Credits (CBio), as established by the RenovaBio program, which are obtained from production of biodiesel, the main raw material of which is bovine tallow.
JBS Transportadora float fleet in Lins (SP)
JBS Transportadora has its own fleet of approximately 1,100 trucks, all of which are tracked and controlled using real-time telemetry, an innovative procedure for route management and optimization of the transport process. In addition, the cattle transport fleet is entirely adapted to guarantee animal welfare. In line with the complementary JBS Transportadora business, TRP Seminovos works with acquisition of new vehicles for JBS and with the sale of used trucks and trailers.
Orygina in Campo Grande (MS)
Orygina produces pharmaceutical industry inputs, with a focus on developing raw materials for research centers, molecular development, genetic therapies and vaccines. The Company currently invests in over 100 assets for pharmaceutical inputs made using cattle organs, such as the pancreas and liver. Geared toward production of plasma and powdered blood, processed using refrigerated adult bovine blood, which serve as ingredients in manufacturing poultry and pork feed, JBS Feed Solutions meets 100% of the demand from JBS production units.
NovaProm in Guaiçara (SP)
NovaProm has two food ingredient factories and is ISO 9001-2015 and FSSC 22000 certified. In addition, it has a comprehensive system for tracing raw materials and its products are halal certified. While JBS Natural Casings provides high-quality casings of animal origin for the entire deli meats segment, including salami, sausages and more. The Company is the world’s largest producer of this product and is certified according to the strictest quality standards using state-of-the-art tracing technology.
The use of technology to favor improvement to processes is a hallmark of JBS Higiene e Limpezathe largest producer of soaps and bar soaps in the B2B segment, whose customers include the biggest hygiene and beauty brands in Brazil and around the world. The Company also works to produce soap base for plant or animal based and glycerin soaps.
JBS Trading sells raw materials to the food, hygiene and cleaning, and biodiesel segments, such as animal fats, vegetable oils and chemical products, in addition to supplying other segments.
One of the largest producers in this segment in Latin America JBS Embalagens Metálicas has the capacity to produce 1 billion cans annually to hold products, geared toward providing protection against physical, chemical and biological actions, for food products as well as a line of aerosols for different segments.
Friboi
Ranked as the best beef by 34% or respondents for the fourth time in a row in a survey by Datafolha. The city of São Paulo is one of the biggest markets for the premium ranges, such as 1953 Friboi and Swift Black, as well as for Maturatta Friboi products.
Friboi also carries out customer satisfaction surveys every two years. The last survey, held in 2018, found a 78% rate of satisfaction.
Swift
Named the most beloved beef brand in the city of São Paulo, according to a survey done by Veja São Paulo magazine in partnership with the Market Research and Intelligence area of Abril. According to the survey, taken among over 1,000 internet users, 36.7% said that Swift was their favorite beef brand, garnering it 1st place in the Comer&Beber 2019/2020 ranking – and is proof of the good experience consumers have with its products and services.
JBS Biodiesel
The first factory certificated to sell Decarbonization Credits (CBio), as established by the RenovaBio program, as a result of biofuel produced from renewable resources.
JBS Biodiesel is the first and only company in Brazil to hold ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification), allowing it to make sales to Europe, since 2013.
JBS Couros
