Newsletter #26

Primoris turns 20 in 2021

Celebrating in 2020 … an idea which is rendered quite contradictory due to the COVID-19 crisis. Nonetheless, we would like to take a moment to shine a spotlight on some special anniversaries that will be celebrated within the Primoris group in 2020 and 2021. The independent lab Primoris Belgium will exist 20 years in 2021 and the laboratories of Primoris Colombia and Primoris Bulgaria will be celebrating their 10-year anniversary. It goes without saying that we will not let these anniversaries go unnoticed.

Primoris started in 2001 as Fytolab and was a spin-off of Ghent University with only 25 employees. In the 1970ies, Ghent University had started a research group on pesticide residue analysis. 
In the beginning the lab analysed about 10 000 samples annually, which is a big difference with the more than 70 000 samples that are being analysed now within the Primoris group. More than 250 000 analyses are being performed for customers from all around the globe. Between 2010 and 2012 both Primoris Colombia, Primoris Bulgaria and Primoris France were established and in 2018 they were joined by Primoris Costa Rica. Through its commercial activities in Europe and Latin America, the Primoris group has become an important player in the field of residue analysis of pesticides and contaminants in food and feed. All laboratories use the same rigorous quality system and comply with the European accreditation standard ISO 17025, allowing us to guarantee the same level of quality for all Primoris laboratories. Furthermore, Primoris is also included in Relana, the quality circle of laboratories in terms of pesticide and contaminant analysis. Laboratories that have the Relana recognition are guaranteed to deliver reliable and excellent quality. Relana especially focusses on professional evaluation of the analytical competences and the level of customer support of the laboratories. At the moment only 9 laboratories in the whole of Europe comply with the strict criteria of Relana.

The certification company CKCert joined the ranks in 2014 and the Primoris group was further expanded in 2016 when Ciboris became our knowledge partner, offering training programs for the agri-food sector, both open and tailormade.

Over the past 20 years, the Primoris group has successfully grown to become a unique combination of knowledge, analyses and certification under one roof. Different activities, one point of contact … with one shared mission: enhancing food safety, product quality and sustainability.

One thing is certain: in the coming months we will dedicate adequate corona-proof attention to these anniversaries. To be most certainly continued!