OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS

In this study, quantitative methodology was utilised to collect the data for this study. The data collection method was structured questionnaires as well as individual face-to-face interviews of fresh food produce manufacturing establishments. Since this study only targeted the fresh food produce manufacturing establishments in the Western Cape Province, participants were randomly selected on their wiliness to implement GMP and those who are

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already complying with GMP standards. The questionnaires were sent to the participants through emails and some were physically delivered to the participants by the student researcher. The questionnaires were accompanied by consent letters (See Appendixes A). Participants were given a month to complete the questionnaires and return them back to the researcher. Though most participants had returned their completed questionnaires within a month, some of the establishment did not reply. The response rate was more than 80% thus it contributed strongly to validity and reliability of the results.

Furthermore, individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with selected establishments based on their availability. The establishment were interviewed to get a deeper understanding of their current GMP awareness practices and to evaluate the effectiveness of this system. The participants of the interviewed food establishments were all food safety team leaders from the fresh food manufacturing establishment who participated in the questionnaires. However, they could only answer the questions that were asked since the questions were structured.

Both the results from the questionnaires and the face-to-face interviews were captured in Excel and verified by a statistician for accuracy before analysing. Finally the results were analysis, and discussed as seen in Chapter 5.

6.3

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM REVISITED

The research problem that is addressed in this study is that GMP is currently perceived as minimal food safety measures by most food manufacturers. Therefore, the lack of enforcement of approved standards within the food manufacturing establishments in Western Cape Province, South Africa may result in the food product quality being questioned by consumers.

Based on the results of this study, it is evident that partial implementation of GMP is used by food manufacturers and the results confirm a need for enforcement for establishments to meet GMP requirements, which is a prerequisite for the food manufacturing establishments.

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6.4

THE RESEARCH QUESTION REVISITED

The primary research questions were: What are the measures that food manufacturers in the Western Cape Province of South Africa need to have in place in order to guarantee safe food products for customers? Are there any measures in place that will force the Western Cape food manufacturing establishments to adopt GMP in order to guarantee safe food products to the customers?

Results from both questionnaires and individual face-to-face interviews indicate that the food manufacturing establishments need to tighten their quality systems as there was clear evidence that quality improvement tools used for measuring GMP effectiveness were not implemented. There was lack of compliance in some establishments such as lack of food safety objectives, lack of training, lack of training programmes, lack of communication on GMP to employees, non- conforming products and corrective actions were not investigated and no food safety management review meetings were in place to address quality issues that arises.

6.4.1

The investigative questions revisited

Four investigative questions were examined in support of the primary research questions:

 What hinders effective implementation of GMP among food manufacturing establishments in the Western Cape?

According to Chapter 3, Paragraph 3.6 challenges of GMP implementation which often occurs such as: there is always lack of interest as employees do not consider GMP as a priority, lack of awareness of the requirement, lack of technical knowledge and skills, lack of proper communication among employee, and lack of training.

 What are the perceived barriers within food manufacturing environment to ensure compliance to GMP?

In the literature review, Chapter 3, Paragraph 3.6 some of the perceived barriers to ensure GMP compliance within the food manufacturing establishment are as

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follows: lack of prerequisite programmes, too much documentation, lack of management, financial barrier, lack of suitable physical working conditions, poor training system and lack of support from authorities.

 Are food manufacturers aware that GMP will improve their confidence to manufacture and deliver products that conform to safety standard to their customers?

In Chapter 3, Paragraph 3.5 states the benefits of GMP implementation which will improve manufacturer’s confidence to manufacture and deliver products that conform to safety standards to their customers as follows: increased in customer satisfaction, reduced customer complaints, improved products quality, increased in the reputation of the company, reduced waste and avoid potential export barriers.

 Which key factors measures performance of GMP within the food manufacturing establishments?

There are many factors that measures performance of the GMP in the food manufacturing establishments. In the literature review, Chapter 3, Paragraph 3.8 six components measures performance of GMP, namely analysis of data, customer satisfaction, internal audits, control of nonconforming product, Continual improvement and corrective action.

All the investigative questions were addressed through questionnaires and individual face-to-face interviews to discover the research problem. There were factors and barriers which hinder the implementation of the GMP within the surveyed industries such as: lack of training, poor of GMP to staff, lack frequent audits to verify compliance with the system and quality improvement tools were not been used in all the companies. Section A of the questionnaires gave a clear indication on the benefit of GMP implementation in the various food establishments which were: to improve the product quality, to build establishment reputation, to improve customer satisfaction, to identify problems within the production process and to meet customer requirement.