Agri-food certification schemes: what’s the best option to reach my company's objectives?

If we look at the labels of the foods we eat, and check their origin, we’ll begin go truly understand, that we eat products from all over the world.

So, how can we ensure that these global products remain safe, when globalisation leaves it footprint? Certification schemes are here to give us the answer and the solution. 

The schemes, the answer to food safety  

The first debates on the problems of selling fresh food go way back to the Middle Ages. But it wasn’t until 2000 that the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) was created to give consumers around the world a solution. The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) agreed to take collaborative action to respond to both the growing safety crisis and supplier fatigue due to duplicate audits.   

Currently, the GFSI has several different schemes incorporated by the more than 400 member companies, including: Tesco, Carrefour, McDonald's, Unilever. Achieving certification under one of these schemes allows our clients to expand globally and distribute their products to larger companies.  

What are the most popular schemes?  

First most, there’s the IFS (International Food Standards) certification scheme. These are private quality and food safety protocols developed by the German (HDE), French (FCD) and Italian retail chains. Together they form a uniform assessment standard, guaranteeing comparability and transparency throughout the supply chain. This enables suppliers and retailers to reduce lead times and costs.  

BRCGS certification is based on food safety and quality protocols developed by British retail chains. It’s requirement widely demanded by retail brands (Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Walmart among others) from all their suppliers, mainly in the UK, but also in Europe and North America. Last year, in collaboration with LANDALUZ, we provided official training for companies interested in expanding their knowledge and updating their procedures in line with the new version 9.   

There is also the independent certification scheme, GlobalG.A.P. short for Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). There are several voluntary modules for this scheme, including Nurture, SPRING, GRASP or Chain of Custody, among others. This scheme started as a retail sector initiative to raise awareness of growing concerns. Today, they are benchmark protocols that cover all production activities inside the farm, until the product is marketed or sold.  

Producers that certify according to these schemes can get exhaustive control of their product, improve production processes and product quality, and meet a distribution chain market demand.  The export requirements in the countries of the European Union are unified under the same regulations. But this is not the case when we want to export to other countries. The Audited System of Specific Self-controls (SAE) comes into force thanks to the Royal Decree 993/2014, on 28 November. In this process, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food obliges companies to implement a self-control system for exporting foods with an animal origin to third countries that demand different requirements to those of the European Union regulations. Furthermore, this system must be certified by an accredited Independent Control Body, such as Applus+ Certification.     

Benefits of certifying under agri-food schemes  

Clients who certify under the previously mentioned schemes want to heighten their international recognition and increase their business opportunities, with greater competitiveness. Thanks to these schemes, there is a uniform system to ensure the quality of food, reducing the number of authorisations that distributors must submit and optimising processes. In addition, certification improves the reputation with the end consumer.    

The choice of the scheme to be certified will always depend on the market our client wishes to target and the type of product that's to be promoted.