Amwaj senior executives and other team members pose after the ceremony for handing over of certificates
Amwaj Catering Services has scored a first as the only catering establishment in Qatar to receive the food safety management systems certification ISO 22000: 2005 by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).
The company also received another two system certifications namely occupational health and safety management systems-requirements (Swiss accreditation) OHSAS 18001:2007 and hazard analysis and critical control points approach to food safety management HACCP Codex Alimentarius.
A handing over ceremony of the certificates and achievements celebration was organised at its headquarters yesterday.
Amwaj, which produces and manages close to 275,000 meals per day for about 115 clients with staff throughout Qatar, including onshore and offshore locations was recently audited by the international accreditation body Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS).
The company provides food services for large scale events and VIP banquets as well.
ISO 22000:2005 food safety management systems specifies that an organisation in the food chain needs to demonstrate its ability to ensure that food is safe at the time of human consumption. It is applicable to all organisations, regardless of size, which are involved in any aspect of food chain and want to implement systems that consistently provide safe products.OHSAS 18001 is intended to help an organisation to control occupational health and safety risks while HACCP system, which is science-based and systematic, identifies specific hazards and measures for their control to ensure the safety of food.
HACCP is a tool to assess hazards and establish control systems that focus on prevention rather than relying mainly on end-product testing.
Established in 2007 as a 100% Qatar Petroleum-owned company, to initially provide catering and allied services to the oil and gas sector, Amwaj has grown and diversified its sphere of services into cleaning, pest control and office, hospitality that includes tea boys, receptionist and help desk services.
Its present workforce of about 8,000 direct and indirect staff now serve clients across different parts of the country.
With a total of 67 branches and another 10 coming up in Al Khor, Ras Laffan Industrial City and Messaieed, the company’s Amwaj Cafes, exclusively utilise and distribute to leading hotels and high profile companies in Qatar, products of Bon Café, a well known international brand of repute.
Present at the event yesterday were Amwaj managing director Jassim Mohamed Ali al-Kuwari, Planning, Sales and Marketing director Kevin O’Connel, Sales and Marketing manager Noureddine Nedjari and a number of senior officials as well as other staff members.