In this week's edition of the Food Safety Select Member Spotlight Series, we ask Managing Director, Anita Patturajan, all about Anitech Pty Ltd, otherwise known as Anitech.
Anitech is a business management systems consultancy that has been providing business management system services in Australia and New Zealand, across a range of industries, including occupational hygiene, business management systems, technology services, and food quality and safety management services, for more than 18 years.
What is the story behind the establishment of Anitech Pty Ltd and how did you become involved in the business?
Established as a start-up at the Monash Incubation Centre (now Eastern Innovation Business Centre, EIBC), with a focus on Process and Business Management Systems Consulting, we have been supporting SMEs for over 18 years.
Anitech was established in 2002, with the goal of developing a one-stop-shop for businesses looking to achieve their risk and compliance in quality, health and safety, and food management systems, improve their businesses, and overall, work quality, productivity, and people engagement.
Prior to establishing Anitech, I had worked as a compliance engineer for a private organisation, and that role gave me first-hand experience in helping businesses develop strategies to achieve their larger operational objectives. However, I wanted there to be a business that adopted a ‘one size fits all’ approach to business management solutions, meaning that they would be able to help all businesses, no matter their industry, size, or scope, achieve their goals. In working towards this vision, Anitech was established.
Who are Anitech’s customers?
Anitech’s customers range from boutique organisations servicing one area, to large government departments that service the entire country. This is because the fundamental principles of what Anitech helps businesses with, of compliance and management solutions, hold true for companies of all shapes and sizes. Our clients include businesses such as corporate companies, SMEs, government agencies, startups, and various NDIS providers.
Regardless of whether a company has 10 or 1000 employees, they are still working towards the same broad goals – of achieving regulatory compliance, delivering a superior customer service experience, and distinguishing themselves from their competitors. Anitech helps businesses of all sizes and industries achieve their operational objectives.
How is Anitech helping food businesses maintain a good reputation?
Part of the role of our specialist food safety consultants is raising awareness about effective strategies for both developing and maintaining a compliant Food Supply Chain. With the pandemic not yet over, there is significant concern amongst the wider community about food safety, and the public wants assurance that the food they purchase is safe for consumption.
Our specialist consultants are trained in the requirements of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand regulations, as well as the various Global Food Safety Initiatives (GFSI) and, thus, have a firm understanding of all the steps that need to be taken by food businesses to ensure the food they work with remains safe and contamination-free across all points of the food supply chain, from farm to fork.
This means that they will help businesses conduct thorough audits of their existing food safety practices and identify potential contamination points, and work at eliminating the harm they could cause. They also help businesses develop effective food safety practices that comply with HACCP – Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point – principles, and raise awareness amongst staff about effective strategies for keeping food safe.
By practicing this comprehensive approach to food safety, Anitech helps food businesses develop a safety culture, and uphold their reputation as a safe business to purchase food from.
Are the food safety management systems internationally recognised and why is this important for the food industry?
This is crucial to businesses within the food industry because certifying to one of these standards not only ensures that a business is operating effectively and working hard to identify potential areas of concern, they also act as a seal of quality for the business's food safety practices. Food businesses are concerned about the safety of their food across all points of the food supply chain, including both internally and externally.
By certifying these internationally recognised standards, businesses are demonstrating a commitment to food safety practices, which makes other companies more likely to deal with them, as they are provided with an assurance about the quality of their potential trading partner's food safety practices.
Are Anitech’s services affordable for small and medium businesses?
Anitech offers a range of services and packages to businesses to help maximise their chances of finding one that fits their budget. When considering whether to contract Anitech’s services, it is worthwhile to perform a short risk assessment of your existing business in order to understand the cost if it fails a regulatory audit, or if there is a problem within a department that negatively impacts customers.
What could a loss of reputation mean to your business? A single incident of contaminated food could lead to a significant drop in customers, profit loss, and expose the business to legal risks. By contracting Anitech’s services, businesses are working to ensure this does not happen, and that their reputation is upheld. Our services are competitively priced, and businesses are able to invest in a lesser cost now to prevent a larger cost later.
Have you seen an increase in businesses turning to Anitech since COVID-19?
Absolutely, the pandemic has resulted in increased awareness amongst the public about the importance of food safety, and food businesses are eager to reassure existing and potential customers that their food and food management practices are safe.
In addition to reassuring customers, businesses are also recognising some of the wider benefits of certifying to a Food Safety Standard, which can include improving efficiency, eliminating downtime, and developing an inclusive work culture, where all staff are trained on their food safety role and responsibility. These effective work practices bring many benefits to businesses, and organisations have been particularly mindful of this over the past year.
What are some of the advantages of Anitech’s services over its competitors?
Part of what distinguishes Anitech from many of its competitors is that our specialist consultants have years of collective experience in helping companies of all shapes and sizes achieve their business goals.
Anitech prides itself on providing a responsive, supportive customer experience throughout the entire consultancy process. This means that our specialist consultants will have several sessions with clients, to discuss their goals, hear their ideas, and understand any areas of concern.
After thoroughly scoping out what it is our clients want from the process, our consultants will then work with them to help them achieve their goals, through a process of collaboration and support. Our consultants will be available throughout the entire process to answer questions, provide advice, and help solve potential issues. This strong focus on the customer service experience distinguishes Anitech from many competitors.
What sort of support is available to Anitech’s customers?
Our specialist consultants will be available to their clients throughout the business day, to answer any questions they have, provide specialised advice, or help them address any challenges they are experiencing. Further, this service support is available across the three stages of the certification process: before, during, and after.
This means that our consultants meet with customers before undertaking a project to ascertain their needs and provide advice, during the project to consult with and provide guidance about the project particulars; and after a successful certification, where we provide information on how to successfully maintain their certification. This comprehensive process means that Anitech’s customers have access to expert advice across the whole certification process, and thus will never be unsure about what they should be doing.
How is Anitech helping to improve the food safety culture of the food business in Australia?
We not only help customers within the food industry develop safe, compliant food practices, we also work to raise awareness amongst businesses about their food safety obligations, and what they should be doing to reassure customers, potential trading partners, and regulatory bodies of their compliant food safety practices.
There have been several changes to food safety compliance standards over the past year, and businesses must keep up with their obligations. In particular, the revised Edition 9 of the Safe Quality Food Code comes into effect for businesses on the 24th of May this year, and businesses that are certified to the older Code are required to ensure their food safety practices meet the changes outlined in the revised Code.
Anitech helps businesses to understand complex issues such as this, by breaking them down into a simple, easy-to-understand manner, so businesses will have a clear understanding of the revisions found in the new Code, and what benefits the new practices can bring to them. So, Anitech has a commitment to increasing awareness about regulatory obligations, and this helps develop a safer work culture across businesses in this industry.
What 3 words best describe Anitech?
Comprehensive, committed, and cost-effective. That is, our consultants are fully committed to providing a comprehensive service to our customers, in a cost-effective manner. That we have a 100% success rate for business certification is a testament to the success of this approach.
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