GRASP is the acronym a vegetable buyer sees next to GLOBALG.A.P. and often skips over. Yet this is exactly the module that says how we treat the people who harvest and pack the goods. In this post we explain what GRASP is, what it checks, and why, for a buyer, working conditions at a supplier are not a nice extra but a real buying criterion.
What GRASP is
GRASP stands for GLOBALG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice. It is an add-on module to the GLOBALG.A.P. certificate, so only farms that already hold GLOBALG.A.P. can apply for it. The GRASP assessment goes hand in hand with the GLOBALG.A.P. audit, in a single visit by the auditor.
Put simply: GLOBALG.A.P. looks at how we grow and what ends up in the vegetable. GRASP looks at how we treat the people who work on that vegetable. We hold both, and on top of that we run the farm according to the principles of Integrated Plant Production.
What GRASP assesses
GRASP focuses on the health, safety and well-being of workers at farm level. The auditor checks specific areas, not declarations.
| Assessment area | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Worker voice | workers have a way to raise concerns and are heard |
| Workers' rights | contracts, working hours and pay in line with the law |
| Safety and health | safe workstations, equipment and working conditions |
| Protecting young people | no child labour, protection of young workers |
One important detail: the assessment covers every form of employment, including seasonal and temporary work. In vegetable growing that matters, because the peak of work with onions is the harvest and packing season, when we need the most hands.
Why it matters to the buyer
A vegetable buyer no longer just buys goods. The retail chains and processing plants served by our partners hold their suppliers accountable for where the raw material comes from and how it was produced. Working conditions are part of that accountability.
GRASP gives the buyer one simple thing: proof that the supply comes from a farm whose social practices have been checked by someone independent. That takes the risk off the buyer. Instead of taking it on trust, they have an audit.
Our vegetables reach market leaders such as Onix, Farm Frites and FreshPol, partners who supply the largest retail chains and processing plants in Poland and Europe. For buyers like these, GRASP and GLOBALG.A.P. are the price of entry, not a differentiator.
GRASP and GLOBALG.A.P., how they differ
These two are easy to mix up, because they travel together. The difference is simple.
| Feature | GLOBALG.A.P. | GRASP |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | the way crops are grown and food safety | working conditions and workers' rights |
| Status | standalone certificate | add-on module to GLOBALG.A.P. |
| Who it protects | the consumer and the buyer | the farm worker |
One without the other makes sense, but together they give a fuller picture: a safe vegetable produced in fair conditions. That is why we keep both.
How it looks at our farm
GRASP is not a piece of paper for the drawer. We run over 800 ha, including around 400 ha of vegetables and ~250 ha of onions, our own storage for 13,000 tonnes and an automated packing line. At that scale, the season means dozens of people harvesting, sorting and packing. Without orderly working rules you cannot run it safely or consistently.
We treat certificates as part of quality, not as something next to it. Alongside GLOBALG.A.P. and GRASP we also hold the FSA Gold (Farm Sustainability Assessment) and GMP+ certificates. How we look after quality from field to pallet is something we describe in growing onions in Zulawy and in onion storage. And how trade cooperation and delivery formats work, we write about in the post on wholesale onions from Zulawy.
Looking for a vegetable supplier with a full set of certificates? Get in touch through our contact page or take a look at our onion offer.
