Meet the Expert

AgCheck develops food safety programs with training and support for American fresh produce operations. Its clients range from 200 to 2,000 acres in size.

Company
AgCheck Compliance Services

Owner
Kay Harmon

Founded
2008

Headquarters
Colorado

Commodities

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Compliance Programs

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"
I had to learn how to implement food safety standards at the farm level all by myself. It's been my goal to simplify the process for others so they don't have to reinvent the wheel.
"
Kay Harmon
Owner, AgCheck Compliance Services

The Path to Smart Solutions

Paper Burdens: The Starting Point

After five successful years running AgCheck, Kay Harmon knew her food safety programs needed to evolve off of paper to ensure value and results for clients.

  • Inefficient Travel
    Paper records forced frequent, costly visits for on-site review and verification.
  • Slow Procedures
    Tedious handwriting and manual binder prep distracted clients from high-priority operations.
  • Unpredictable Results
    Paper hindered managers from identifying trends, and hid many issues until an auditor found them.

Barriers to Progress

AgCheck's initial search for software did not uncover a solution, but instead, two common constraints.

  • Bank Breakers
    Many software options are not priced for the mid-market in fresh produce
  • Program Changers

    Many software options are so rigid that they force clumsy changes onto food safety programs.

Breakthrough

Finally, Kay's persistent search led her to Provision - and its accessibility opened a new chapter for AgCheck.

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There's a common theme in other software companies: they try to fit clients into their own rigid molds. But Provision is really flexible. They could digitize what I had already developed, adding value without causing clients to re-learn their food safety programs.
"
Kay Harmon
AgCheck Compliance Services
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Becoming a Provision Partner

Seeing the platform's potential, AgCheck joined the Provision Partner program - which helps food safety experts to digitize their clients' food safety management systems.

  • Pilot

    After becoming a Provision Partner, Kay quickly chose AgCheck's most progressive client for a pilot: Mix Farms, a potato grower in Colorado. Shadowing Provision's sales process, Kay counselled Mix Farms while advancing her knowledge of the software functionality - which complemented new services for AgCheck.

    When Mix Farms approved Provision, Kay remained involved throughout the implementation process, optimizing the software configuration for Mix farms while becoming an expert herself.

  • Templates

    When Mix Farms accomplished record results in their next GLOBALG.A.P. audit, Kay moved quickly to bring the benefit to a broader audience. She turned Mix Farms' setup into repeatable Provision templates for other AgCheck clients, covering GLOBALG.A.P., PrimusGFS, and USDA Harmonized GAP.

    Kay then listed AgCheck's templates in The Compliance Store - Provision's marketplace that enables food companies to subscribe to digital records and SOPs from experts. Like selling apps in Apple's App Store, the templates gave AgCheck new, recurring revenue with a global reach. The templates also gave AgCheck clients a proven structure they could easily implement.

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"
The Compliance Store makes it easy for clients to access audit-tested templates that limit their compliance risk. It also makes it easy for Partners to access new growth; clients hire us to customize AgCheck templates and support their ongoing usage.
"
Kay Harmon
AgCheck Compliance Services
  • Education
    Set up for success, AgCheck clients began gravitating to Provision. To demonstrate its impact, Kay scheduled an in-person learning series, showing firsthand how AgCheck's templates streamlined compliance. This thoughtful group education format allowed Kay to quickly convert more than a dozen clients, proving AgCheck not only as a Provision Partner, but as a cutting-edge consultant as well.

The Results

In the world of agricultural compliance, Kay Harmon's journey demonstrates a seamless blend of innovation, dedication, and partnership. She continues to write new chapters in AgCheck's success story even as she helps drive the industry toward compliance excellence.

 

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"
My goal is that AgCheck and Provision make food safety management so simple and practical that even small farms with limited technical expertise can feel confident in their compliance.
"
Kay Harmon
AgCheck Compliance Services

Benefits for Clients

Using Provision, AgCheck clients meet customer, regulatory, and certification requirements in less time, and with less risk.

  • Efficiency for Operators
    Live translation, work instructions, and auto-complete help staff to capture compliant data, faster.
  • Efficiency for Managers
    Managers can stop chasing staff thanks to automatic task reminders and requirements in records.
  • Predictable Compliance
    Notifications and reports give visibility into compliance, ensuring clients are audit-ready every day.
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"
AgCheck has been a joy to work with. The program is top notch, and has greatly contributed to the success of our farm in complying with GAP requirements.
"
Thomas Shephard
Shephard Farms

Benefits for AgCheck

When Kay de-risked client compliance, she simultaneously differentiated AgCheck - proving they could demystify the path to smart solutions.

  • Service Value
    With cloud access to client records, AgCheck could provide deeper compliance support, more often.
  • Service Scale
    Repeatable, digitally-enabled services enabled AgCheck to grow its client base without travel costs.
  • New Revenue Streams
    The Compliance Store gave AgCheck passive recurring income on top of its service income.

Time Savings

Growers, packers, and shippers using AgCheck's smart templates have become twice as efficient in food safety and QA.

  • 60%

    Time saved on data entry

  • 50%

    Time saved on mock recalls

  • 50%

    Time saved on record review and verification

  • 60%

    Time saved on audit preparation