What Is BRCGS? Everything You Need To Know
BRCGS is a leading global certification scheme for the food industry, setting comprehensive standards across production, packaging, storage, and distribution to ensure product safety and quality. This guide to BRCGS will help you understand what it is, why it’s important, and what’s required to attain certification.
What Is BRCGS?
BRCGS (Brand Reputation through Compliance Global Standards) is a global quality and safety certification. It sets criteria for production, packaging, storage, and distribution to ensure product safety and quality.
BRCGS was founded with the intention of reducing audit duplication and setting global standards for food safety across the supply chain. It was the first food safety standard to be recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), and is considered to be one of the most rigorous food safety schemes.
BRCGS helps companies demonstrate commitment to best practices and consumer safety. Earning BRCGS certification signals quality and trust, helping companies grow their global market presence.
Why Is BRCGS Important?
BRCGS protects consumers by standardizing food safety protocols and helps brands attain high levels of quality through its clear framework.
Over 22,000 sites in more than 130 countries have adopted the BRCGS Global Food Safety Standard. This standard is recognized and accepted by 70% of the top 10 global retailers, 60% of the top 10 quick-service restaurants, and 50% of the top 25 manufacturers (BRCGS).
Here are the most popular reasons brands pursue BRCGS certification within their supply chain:
Demonstrating Excellence and Commitment: BRCGS certification represents a business's commitment to excellence, showcasing its dedication to quality, safety, and best practices in the global market. This commitment to excellence is recognized by both partners and customers.
Enhancing Consumer Trust and Safety: The certification directly enhances consumer trust and safety, affirming a business's commitment to producing safe, high-quality products.
Facilitating Global Recognition and Market Access: BRCGS certification grants businesses global recognition, opening doors to international markets and enabling them to compete more effectively on a worldwide scale.
Strengthening Relationships with Retailers and Suppliers: Achieving BRCGS certification strengthens a business's relationships with key stakeholders, signaling quality and reliability that attracts valuable partnerships.
Who Pursues BRCGS Certification?
There are four BRCGS Standards, These are the main entities that pursue BRCGS certification and how they benefit from it:
Food Producers
Food producers pursue BRCGS certification to ensure their fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, and aquaculture products meet high standards of safety and quality. This certification validates their commitment to BRCGS Food Safety Standards from the farm to the consumer, enhancing trust among retailers and end-users. It acts as a crucial differentiator in a competitive market, demonstrating a proactive approach to food safety and quality management.
Plant-Based Food Producers
BRCGS certification is also available for plant-based food producers to ensure and demonstrate the exclusion of animal inputs throughout the manufacturing, processing, and packing stages. The BRCGS Plant-Based Standard covers a wide range of products including processed foods; ingredients for food service companies, catering companies, and food manufacturers; pet foods under GFSI benchmarked schemes; and natural health products. Achieving BRCGS certification validates a producer's commitment to best practices in creating products that meet the growing demand for plant-based options, enhancing trust among retailers and consumers alike.
Packaging Manufacturers
Packaging manufacturers seek BRCGS certification to ensure their materials comply with global safety and quality standards. This certification is pivotal for those producing packaging for both food and non-food products, as it assures clients and consumers of the safety and integrity of their packaging solutions. Ultimately, the BRCGS Packaging Materials Standard reinforces the manufacturer's role in the supply chain as a trusted partner in safeguarding product quality and safety.
Logistics Providers (Storage and Distribution)
For logistics providers, BRCGS certification is essential in demonstrating their capability to maintain the integrity and safety of products during storage, warehousing, and transportation. It showcases their commitment to upholding safety standards, which is critical for mitigating risks associated with product handling and distribution. Certification under the BRCGS Storage and Distribution Standard strengthens their credibility and competitiveness, offering assurance to businesses that rely on them for the safe and efficient movement of goods. This certification applies to logistics companies across sectors, not just the food industry.
What Is the Scope of BRCGS?
BRCGS has a wide scope, which varies based on the type of site being assessed. For example, the food safety requirements for food producers are different than the standards for distributors. In general, however, the certification covers critical aspects of food safety, quality management, environmental conditions, product and process control, staff competence, and training. These are the main areas BRCGS covers:
Product Safety
BRCGS Food Safety certification emphasizes critical food safety practices, including the implementation of hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) principles. It involves a thorough assessment of food safety plans and the effective management of significant food safety hazards. This focus ensures that certified businesses are equipped to prevent, eliminate, or reduce food safety risks to an acceptable level.
The BRCGS Packaging Standard and the BRCGS Storage and Distribution Standard also focus primarily on ensuring product safety.
Quality Management Systems
This certification critically evaluates a company's quality management systems, assessing their effectiveness in ensuring product quality and consistency. It underscores the importance of well-documented policies and procedures that form the backbone of a robust quality management framework. This ensures that certified companies maintain high standards across all stages of production and delivery.
Site Conditions
BRCGS certification scrutinizes the environmental conditions within production facilities to ensure they are conducive to producing or storing safe food or other products. It assesses how businesses control and manage their production environments to prevent contamination and ensure product safety.
Product and Process Control
The certification process includes a detailed assessment of a company’s processes for designing, producing, and delivering products. This assessment ensures that each step in the production and delivery of products is meticulously managed to meet BRCGS standards of quality and safety. From the sourcing of raw materials to the final product testing, every process is scrutinized for its effectiveness in maintaining food safety.
Senior Management Commitment
The certification requirements emphasize the role of leadership in fostering a culture of excellence, requiring evidence of proactive engagement and continuous support for quality initiatives. Senior management is tasked with ensuring that food safety objectives are clearly communicated, understood, and implemented throughout the organization. This leadership is critical in setting the strategic direction for compliance and improvement and in providing the necessary resources and support to achieve these goals.
How Does the BRCGS Certification Process Work?
BRCGS certification requires an audit, report and certification, and surveillance for ongoing compliance. A self assessment before the audit will help identify and adjust any shortcomings. These are the main steps of the certification process:
Initial Assessment and Application
The first step towards BRCGS certification involves applying through a certified body, such as QIMA/WQS, which guides companies through the process. This phase includes a self-assessment and a comprehensive review of all relevant documentation to ensure readiness for the audit. It's a crucial stage where businesses prepare by aligning their practices with BRCGS standards, discovering and fixing areas of improvement.
On-site Audit
The on-site audit, conducted by certified auditors, is an evaluation of a company's adherence to BRCGS standards, focusing on food safety, quality management systems, and operational conditions. Auditors assess the practical implementation of policies and procedures, verifying that they meet the rigorous standards set by BRCGS. This audit process aims to identify both the strengths and areas needing enhancement in the company’s practices.
Report and Certification
Following the audit, companies receive a detailed report outlining the findings, including any non-compliances and recommendations for improvements. If the audit is successful and any identified issues are addressed, the company is awarded the BRCGS certification.
Surveillance and Recertification
To ensure ongoing compliance with BRCGS standards, certified companies undergo regular surveillance audits. These audits are essential for maintaining certification status and encouraging continuous improvement. The recertification process, which typically occurs annually, assesses a company's adherence to evolving standards, reaffirming its dedication to excellence and consumer safety.
Achieve BRCGS Certification with QIMA/WQS
With over 30 years of experience in the food industry, QIMA/WQS offers BRCGS certification for all members of the supply chain. Partnering with us simplifies the path to BRCGS certification, helping to elevate your food safety or other product protocols and affirming your commitment to excellence in food quality and safety.
Our BRCGS certification process is designed to facilitate and expedite the complex certification process and support you every step of the way.
Contact us to learn more about BRCGS certification or book an audit today.
Related Articles
