BRC Storage and Distribution Standard Help Please!

Hi all
I work as a food safety consultant with lots of experience in the BRC Global Food Safety Standard, although I haven't had much exposure to the BRC Storage and distribution Standard. My client has a food factory which we have successfully put through BRC with a grade A, and if now looking to put the Storage and Distribution part of his business through the BRC system.
This is what my client does:
Distribution of chilled, frozen and ambient products to wholesale customers (some branded, some own brand)
Chilled, frozen and ambient storage
No processing takes place on site

My main questions are:

• Is there a requirement for supplier and customer specifications for all products
• Is there a requirement for supplier approval as per BRC Global Food Standard for suppliers.

Version 1 is quite hard to follow with the different modules, although I'm sure that version 2 will make the requirements tougher (due out in a few days), and any push in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

BUMP for Smithyj.

I too work as a consultant, but I also do BRC audits as a subcontractor for a certification body, including S&D.

With respect to the specifications question. You will definately need full specifications for any product which is sold under your client's own name. (W1.3.1) For products which are clearly sold under a manufacturer's or other distributor's own brand ,eg Heinz Baked Beans, you would not be expected to hold full specifications even if you could get them. The ground in the middle can get complex. If there is no clear name, or the product is sold loose, such as fruit and veg, it will be assumed that your client has title and you would be expected to have some form of specification. For fruit and veg, this could simply be the Class 1,2 etc specifications governed by DEFRA. If the product is packed by your client under one of their individual customer's names, again a full specification is needed. (The S&D Standard does cover loose foods such as fruit & veg, fish and meat which is broken down from large trays into smaller packs, but there are limitations to the scope)

Remember also that specifications are also needed for any relevant service as well as individual products.

Supplier approval and monitoring is required (S2.9.1), but the phrase "based on risk analysis" is used. Again using the example of Heinz Baked Beans, you would not be expected to audit or get a questionnaire from Heinz, but if your client buys the beans from a distribution company some form of approval or monitoring would be needed.

This may all change with Issue 2 and I have yet to go on the update course, but I hope it helps

I work as a management consultant but have long experience in the food certification arena. I am working with a storage & distribution company in the packaging area at the moment and we are just working towards a first BRC audit in a month's time.

I don't feel that there is a requirement for specs for all products, but there is a requirement for a supplier approval process to be in place, although nowhere near as rgidly as with the food standard. As with everything S&D, there are a lot of grey areas and I am sure that version 2 will tidy things up considerably. However, my advice would be to ensure a supplier approval process is in place but that it does not have to be too stringent and can probably cover the top selling lines only.

Hope this helps.

Dear All,

I can see the difficulty in respect to the variety of situations possible. Unfortunately, IMHO, BRC will not be too worried about this aspect.
I can remember a similar "scope type" question popping up at the inception of the BRC Food Standard. Guess what the answer was ??

Product specifications are to auditors like entropy is to time.

Rgds / Charles.C

Are your questions answered Smithyj?

Hi all
Many thanks to all those that have responded and I think I'm a bit clearer now.