Author: Julian Vine

BRC Traceability Requirements & Supply Chain Mapper

Do you currently meet BRC Traceability Requirements? BRC certification is an internationally recognised Quality Assurance standard for the food industry. BRC accreditation demonstrates compliance with it’s standard, which is based upon the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) standards. Third party audits measure site performance against the standard. All audits will be slightly different, they are each unique, but most audits have commonalities. Sites that demonstrate compliance with the standard become accredited.

Version 8 of the BRC standard has 12 fundamental requirements that businesses must demonstrate to gain or maintain accreditation. One of the most complex clauses of the BRC standard is the requirement to provide full traceability of all products.

What are the traceability requirements for Issue 8 of BRC?

Clause 3.9 states that food sites must have a documented traceability procedure detailing how the traceability system works. When the BRC auditor visits sites they will check this documentation is in place and is robust. . The Global Standard Food Safety Issue 8 FAQ section clarifies the meaning and intent of FULL traceability is still the same as Issue 7. The level of evidence is dependent on the supplier, extract from this document below.

• If the raw material supplier is certificated to a GFSI-benchmarked standard, assessment of traceability systems will form part of these audits and therefore no additional action is required
• Where the raw material supplier is audited by the site and the audit includes an assessment of the traceability systems, this would comply with the requirement of clause 3.9.3 as traceability would have been assessed
• If supplier approval is based solely on a questionnaire with no additional testing of the traceability system, additional traceability verification is required. This could be via a test of the raw materials supplier

How Supply Chain Mapper can help with BRC traceability requirements

We are proud to say QADEX customers never have to take a deep breath and gulp when hearing the words BRC Audit!

“Through our tools and expertise we help our customers be audit ready 24/7.”

Stephen Whyte – MD QADEX

Our Supply Chain Mapping tool gives you a cockpit view of your entire supply chain right back to the originating field, pond or fishing vessel of any raw material.  It is free for Suppliers to use and helps you identify any areas of risk, putting you back in control of your traceability procedures. Read more here.

Provided as a low cost platform to our customers and free for all of their suppliers, this removes one of the biggest excuses a supplier can offer!

Get up and running in 6 simple steps

• Register to start receiving training emails
• Add your sites
• List your users
• Register your suppliers
• Add the products you source
• Request a map from your suppliers

It is as simple as that!

Not only can you demonstrate compliance to your BRC auditor when under audit, you can share the map with all of your customers.

Click the button below to register.

Food Supply Chain Management Software – The Benefits

The UK government announced a potential trade deal with the US for meat sourcing. As a result, many consumers are concerned that the standard of imported meat may be lower. Risks include: increased use of antibiotics, pesticides and processing methods currently banned in the UK. Read on and learn how food supply chain management software can minimise risk.

Many feel that foodservice is much more likely to source US meat than supermarkets. Supermarkets have vowed not to introduce US meat into their supply chain, but foodservice has left the door slightly open. To gain some clarity a recent report by Footprint researched the industry to gauge their stance on the issue.

What are the current meat sourcing practices?

Footprint recently surveyed 25 Foodservice providers finding many high street brands such as KFC, Intercontinental Hotels Group and Compass UK pledged not to source US meat not meeting current UK standards. However, they stated that they would consider US meat if a trade deal enforced meeting UK standards.

The Footprint survey results also showed that whilst some businesses source 100% of their meat from the UK, others rely on the rest of the world for the majority of their products.

The survey opened up a list of concerns:

56% of businesses would not or could not provide data on their meat origin, what are the impacts?

Even if they source in the UK, how do they know that these suppliers are ethical and responsible?

How can brands know definitively the provenance of the meat? 

Impacts of doing nothing when it comes to food supply chain risk management

Many feel that if foodservice brands do not disclose their entire supply chain, it would impact consumer confidence and therefore sales. Consumer confidence would reduce through fear of buying lower standard meat. Brands could find their reputation tainted if unethical or non sustainable practices are discovered.

“The fiercest critics of the foodservice industry would say they like to mask behind a lack of scrutiny of meat sourcing – a race to the bottom in price not a race to the top in terms of standards. The trend on white meat sourcing [revealed in this survey]paints that picture.”

Simon Billing, executive Director at the Eating Better Alliance

Source; Poultry News 14th September 2020

Sustainability concerns over practices in the foodservice industry supply chain.

Many consumers are increasingly concerned that meat companies habitually source from countries that have issues with deforestation. Overall, worldwide consumption of animal-based foods (meats and dairy) is expected to increase 79% between 2006 and 2050, and beef demand by 95%. However, the intensification of animal agriculture is detrimental to the environment. To increase consumer confidence and stop this impact alternative production practices must be considered.

 Increasing numbers of consumers are questioning if their food is sourced sustainably and many base their buying decisions on sustainability.

Lack of animal welfare traceability in the supply chain

In recent news major supermarkets and foodservice brands banned meat from a farm suspended from the Red Tractor due to mistreatment of animals. 

Brands should know who their supplier was sourcing from. Having this data means they could ensure suppliers are audited to ensure ethical practices. As they come under scrutiny, how can foodservice be 100% sure that the meat is coming from an approved source? Is it even possible to know all of the suppliers in your food supply chain to mitigate risks?

How food supply chain management software can help with supplier management

Food supply chain management software can address the issue of traceability and transparency and allay consumers concerns. Food supply chain risk management becomes much simpler.

Imagine if you could share a map multiple times with proof of every movement of food from the field to the plate. Imagine you could increase consumer confidence in your brand and provide evidence that your food supply chain has responsible and ethical practices right back to source.

Great news! You can and it is simple and quick to action! 

Supply Chain Mapper is a tool to help you to map suppliers UK and overseas..

Once you have identified all of your suppliers through completion of the supply chain map you can ensure that they have been audited allowing you to mitigate risks and increase consumer confidence.

It is impossible to manage and measure your supplier list if you do not have access to all the data but using Supply Chain Mapper, the task becomes far easier to manage!

To Start Your Supply Chain Mapper Journey – click here

Supplier mapping as part of your supply chain management strategy.

Most food manufacturers know their top tier suppliers, but struggle to gain full traceability back to source – Supply Chain Mapper makes this easy!