BRC – British Retail Consortium
The BRC, or British Retail Consortium, is an international standard for food producers, aimed at facilitating adherence to food safety regulations and providing guidance for the manufacture of safe, high-quality products. The BRC is a reference standard of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). This standard covers food safety and product quality management within food packaging and processing.
What is BRC certification?
BRC certification ensures the conformity of operations carried out by food processing or raw product packaging companies. The document is aimed specifically at UK retailers.
With health and economic challenges, food safety has become a global priority. The quality and integrity strategy established in France, and subsequently by the European Union, enables players in the agri-food sector to promote their goods and, at the same time, their industry. Whether you’re a grower, processor, manufacturer or transporter of agri-foodstuffs, certification is proof of quality and safety, while ensuring product reliability for consumers.
What is the aim of BRC certification?
The aim of this certification is to set up a high-performance, universally recognized system to promote standards and best practices in the agri-food sector.
By adopting the BRC framework, you are setting up a high-performance system for safeguarding food safety, which is essential at every stage of the food distribution chain. It ensures consumer safety, preserves the integrity of your brand and complies with legal requirements.
Achieving BRC certification places you in a global database used by countless international retailers to select and evaluate their suppliers.
This program, fully validated by the GFSI or Global Food Standard Initiative, is designed to maximize efficiency through the following means:
- Reduced audit frequency;
- Perfecting your procedures ;
- Optimizing resources and time management.
The benefits of BRC certification
The benefits of BRC certification are manifold. By joining the ranks of more than 28,000 BRC-accredited producers in 130 countries, you’ll gain greater consumer confidence and expand your business opportunities.
The benefits of certification
- Credit for your commitments ;
- Establishing a management system capable of satisfying quality and food safety criteria;
- Compliance with regulatory standards for your food products, including those of the countries of destination;
- Access to a tool for continuous improvement of food safety results;
- The assurance of optimal quality and safety management for Europe’s leading distributors;
- Increased visibility through the publication of audit reports on the IFS portal, when the company is certified;
- The replacement of multiple customer audits by the BRC audit, recognized by experts in the field.