Other party private solution
AH-DLL GROW
AH-DLL GROW is a private add-on to the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard for producers that supply the Dutch retailer Albert Heijn and/or the Belgian retailer Delhaize. It is focused on farm-level risk management for producers in the areas of hygiene, residue monitoring, and prevention of foreign body contamination.
Targeted criteria for Albert Heijn/Delhaize suppliers
What is AH-DLL GROW?
Launched in 2020, AH-DLL GROW was developed to meet growing consumer expectations surrounding product quality and food safety. The add-on is designed to assess producers’ risk management and promote better awareness of issues such as unhygienic working conditions, plant protection product residues, and product contamination through foreign bodies or substances. Applicable to fruit and vegetable production and audited together with the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard, the private solution was developed by FoodPLUS GmbH in collaboration with Albert Heijn and Delhaize to reduce duplication and increase flexibility for suppliers in choosing how they want their sites to be audited.
AH-DLL GROW at a glance
Audited together
with IFA for fruit and vegetables to minimize the audit burden for producers
Focused content
on hygiene, residue monitoring, and prevention of foreign body contamination
Robust integrity
through GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs
Audited together
with IFA for fruit and vegetables to minimize the audit burden for producers
Focused content
on hygiene, residue monitoring, and prevention of foreign body contamination
Robust integrity
through GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs
Audited together
with IFA for fruit and vegetables to minimize the audit burden for producers
Focused content
on hygiene, residue monitoring, and prevention of foreign body contamination
Robust integrity
through GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs
Audited together
with IFA for fruit and vegetables to minimize the audit burden for producers
Focused content
on hygiene, residue monitoring, and prevention of foreign body contamination
Robust integrity
through GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs
Which topics does AH-DLL GROW address?
Residue monitoring
General hygiene
Product hygiene
Handling hygiene
Foreign bodies/substances
Who should use AH-DLL GROW?
AH-DLL GROW is available for only those individual producers and producer groups who supply fruit and vegetable products either directly or via their suppliers to Albert Heijn in the Netherlands or Delhaize in Belgium.
All producers must hold certification to Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) for fruit and vegetables, as the audit builds on existing IFA requirements.
Reduce audit duplication in the supply chain
How does AH-DLL GROW work?
The add-on is composed of principles and criteria (P&Cs) which are all graded as either Major Must, requiring 100% compliance, or Recommendation. The AH-DLL GROW checklist contains dedicated Albert Heijn/Delhaize requirements – 29 P&Cs – that are audited together with those in the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard for fruit and vegetables.
Which documents are required?
GLOBALG.A.P. general rules specifications: Rules that define how the audit process works, from the scope of the add-on to the audit requirements.
Checklist: The full list of P&Cs as used by CB auditors, enabling producers to perform a self-assessment in preparation for the CB audit.
Checklist annex: Dutch and Belgian food authority requirements for residue sampling by product type.
How is conformance status verified?
Every producer registered in the GLOBALG.A.P. certification system is assigned a 13-digit GLOBALG.A.P. identification number (e.g., a GLOBALG.A.P. Number (GGN)). This number allows real-time verification of conformance status in the GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems, upholding our rigorous transparency requirements throughout the supply chain.
Producers can control data access and privacy rights for audit reports, and the reports are not shared publicly or with third parties. This process is handled via your chosen CB.
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Your guide to implementation
How to prepare for an AH-DLL GROW audit
Follow our five steps to AH-DLL GROW for an overview of the audit process and find a GLOBALG.A.P. approved certification body (CB) in your area to get started.
How does the audit process work?
Compliance with the AH-DLL GROW requirements is audited annually together with the Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) audit (or an audit to a benchmarked scheme/checklist) by accredited and independent third-party CBs.
Producers can choose from any GLOBALG.A.P. approved CB active in the relevant country – although the same CB which conducts the IFA audit must conduct the AH-DLL GROW audit.
A successful CB audit results in a letter of conformance valid for one year.
The CB is responsible for uploading the audit report and maintaining the accuracy of producer data in the GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems.
Producers will be audited annually by a CB as part of the renewal process.
Audit results are uploaded to the GLOBALG.A.P. database. Only AH-DLL GROW observers (Albert Heijn/Delhaize employees and service providers who have been granted access), GLOBALG.A.P. , and the CB which conducted the audit will be able to view your results.
Which version of AH-DLL GROW is currently valid?
There is currently one valid version of AH-DLL GROW available for audit.
V3.1 was published on 21 August 2023 and must be combined with IFA v6.
Version comparison
| AH-DLL GROW v3 | AH-DLL GROW v3.1 |
|---|---|
| --- Overview --- | |
| Add-on to IFA v5 (crops scope, fruit and vegetables sub-scope) | Add-on to IFA v6 (plants scope, fruit and vegetables product category) |
| Control points and compliance criteria | Principles and criteria |
| Audited in combination with IFA 5.4-1-GFS | Audited in combination with IFA v6 Smart/v6 GFS |
| --- General Regulations Specifications --- | |
| Different CBs may conduct the IFA and the AH-DLL GROW audit | The same CB must conduct the IFA and the AH-DLL GROW audit |
| Parallel ownership follows GLOBALG.A.P. general regulations | Added: Clarification on how to apply parallel ownership more specifically under the AH-DLL GROW add-on |
| Unannounced CB audits follow GLOBALG.A.P. general regulations | Added: Unannounced CB audits depend on which IFA edition of the base standard is used |
| Remote CB audits follow GLOBALG.A.P. general regulations | Clarification added: Remote CB audits depend on which IFA edition of the base standard is used |
| Additional self-assessments are required by producer members of producer groups | Removed: Self-assessments no longer additionally required by producer members of producer groups |
| Adding new producer members to a producer group follows GLOBALG.A.P. general regulations | Clarification added: New producer members can only be added to a producer group after an internal farm audit has been conducted |
| Surveillance audits follow GLOBALG.A.P. general regulations | Clarification added: Sampling during a surveillance audit (when the add-on is implemented during the IFA certification cycle) is calculated as the square root of all members that need AH-DLL GROW, and not only the 50% as per GLOBALG.A.P. general regulations |
| Data access rules in line with IFA v5 | Data access rules in line with IFA v6 |
| --- AH-DLL GROW checklists and forms --- | |
| Three modules: - Residue monitoring - Hygiene round - Foreign body/substances | Five modules: - Residue monitoring - General hygiene check - Product hygiene - Handling hygiene - Foreign body/substances |
| Control points within a module are dependent on the risk classification per crop | Modules are dependent on the risk classification per crop |
| Hygiene Form 2 is separate from the Hygiene module | Hygiene Form 2 requirements are integrated into Module 2 on “General hygiene check” as Recommendations |
| All hygiene requirements are covered in one Module | Hygiene requirements are split into three modules with a specific focus, e.g., general hygiene (facility, handling area, etc.), hygiene in terms of the crop, and hygiene in terms of the handling of the crop |
| Module 2 – Hygiene round 2.2 is in line with IFA v5 | Module 3 – Product hygiene 3.3 is in line with IFA v6 Smart and v6 GFS |
Ready to get started?
Use our Smart Checklist Builder to easily understand which GLOBALG.A.P. smart farm assurance solutions are recommended for your production practices and generate a personalized checklist for your self-assessment.
Five steps to AH-DLL GROW
You will need the GLOBALG.A.P. general rules specifications for AH-DLL GROW, the checklist, and the checklist annex. All of the required documents are available online, for free, and in multiple languages. They are linked below and can also be found in the GLOBALG.A.P. document center.
Use the documents to guide the implementation of the add-on requirements, and then perform a self-assessment using the checklist.
Search the list of GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs by region, country, scope, and status. Contact the CB of your choice and request an audit. Note that the GLOBALG.A.P. fee table does not cover CB service fees such as audit time or travel costs to your site.
The CB will perform the on-site audit and upload the results to Audit Online Hub. Any non-compliances which are detected during the audit must be corrected within the specified period and verified by the CB before a letter of conformance can be issued.
When all requirements are met and verified by the CB, they will issue your AH-DLL GROW letter of conformance. Your conformance status is then visible in the GLOBALG.A.P. IT systems for transparency in the market.
Key documents
The three most relevant documents are linked below. Click ‘view more’ to see further related documents. Remember to always check with your CB that you have all necessary documents prior to audit.
GROW Annex for all modules
Checklists
V3.1
English | Last updated: 31/03/2025
xlsx
Checklists
V3.1
English | Last updated: 31/03/2025
xlsx
Checklists are documents containing standard/add-on principles and criteria which are used during the audit/assessment to check whether compliance is achieved. They may also be used to conduct self-assessments.
GROW
Checklists
V3.1
English | Last updated: 29/11/2024
xlsx
Checklists
V3.1
English | Last updated: 29/11/2024
xlsx
Checklists are documents containing standard/add-on principles and criteria which are used during the audit/assessment to check whether compliance is achieved. They may also be used to conduct self-assessments.
GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs
The list of GLOBALG.A.P. approved CBs can be filtered by region, country, scope, and status. Click a CB to find more information and contact details.
If you do not filter your search, or filter only according to region and/or country, your search results will also show CBs that offer certification against benchmarked schemes, but which may not have approval for any GLOBALG.A.P. standards and add-ons.
Contact us
For technical/interpretation questions, please contact us at standard_support@globalgap.org.
For questions about the audit process or GLOBALG.A.P. IT platform, please contact us at customer_support@globalgap.org.