Europe Soya certification by Kiwa: global strength delivered locally

Kiwa is pleased to announce that Finnish tofu and tempeh producer Oy Soya Ab, Jalofoods is now fully certified to the Europe Soya Standard. A great achievement for both parties. Oy Soya Ab, Jalofoods is the first company that is Europe Soya certified by Kiwa, and the Finnish company is one of the first food production businesses to gain this certification. The certification was established through a collaboration between Kiwa UK and Kiwa Finland.

Sharing expertise and experience

Kiwa UK specialises in the auditing and certification of food, feed and farming businesses. Since 2018 Kiwa UK is an approved certification body for both the Donau Soja and Europe Soya schemes. The request from the Finnish customer for Europe Soya certification kicked-off a close co-operation between our Kiwa UK and Kiwa Finland colleagues.

Where possible Kiwa actively encourages sharing of auditing expertise, experience, scheme approvals and accreditations between the Kiwa offices in the different countries. In this way we can offer clients worldwide with the expertise of local approved auditors who can conduct inspections in their own language while ensuring that continued high standards are maintained.

Customer story Oy Soya Ab, Jalofoods

Oy Soya Ab, Jalofoods is a food company based in Ekenäs, Finland, which produces domestic tofu and tempeh products from soya.

‘The initiative for Europe Soya certification was taken by us because we wanted to be a forerunner in finding new ways to use traceable soy in our production.’ says Stig Westerlund, CEO of Oy Soya Ab. ‘The international certification process was an exciting new experience, and it deepened our understanding of what's happening behind the scenes of such a process.’
Performing the first audit in English did not cause problems and was viewed as continuous improvement: ‘We got learnings of how they operate in other markets and gained new perspectives. Even though the standards are text on paper, auditing is still done by human beings having interaction.’

Photo: Stig Westerlund, CEO of Oy Soya Ab

Oy Soya Ab's Ekenäs production unit has FSSC22000, Fairtrade and Gluten Free product certifications, which have already become accustomed to separating raw materials and preventing cross-contamination. Still, getting the Europe Soya certification brought with it some additional practices, and the tracking and identification of different soy qualities and the tracking of logistics processes have become even more refined.

Kiwa’s Food certification services

Would you like more information about our Food certification services, or soya in particular? Please contact us via the contact form on this page.