3 replies to this topic

[TonyM]

Hi, im in the process of updating our Approved Supplier Selection and Monitoring procedure and wanted to ask what other companies might do to approve a retail outlet such as Cash & Carry or Costco. We occasionally need a small amount of an ingredient and it doesnt make sense to buy a 3 year supply of it to meet minimum order quantities, so we just go down the street and pick it up at the store. I dont feel that we should be sending a company like Costco a questionnaire in order to add them to our approved suppliers register. In my procedure, im adding a "step" referring to retail stores and am trying to figure out how to word it in a way that i can just add them to our register and go on with business. If the manufacturer meets quality standards to even be on the shelf at Costco or any grocer for that matter, they are good to go as far as im concerned.

Honestly i think the whole process of approving suppliers is a joke. Do they make what we want, yes. Do they make it at a price we are okay paying? Yes. Ok, approved! Obviously im not going to get away with that as our vendor approval policy, but any suggestions or advice in developing a reasonable system of approval, particularly about approving retail stores would be much appreciated.

Tony

[Foodworker]

There is nothing wrong in using a retailer own brand product as one of your raw materials. I say retailer own brand deliberately as retailers of any repute will have their own supplier approval programme which is almost certailnly going to be more extensive than your own, as it is their due diligence, and reputation that they are protecting.

I would not use a non retailer own brand unless it was from somebody as big as Heinz or Unilever as smaller labels may not have the necessary levels of control.

Most Standards have a bit of flexibility about supplier approval and include a clause saying something like ' The procedure shall define how exceptions are handled, eg where audit or formal approval has not taken place'

There is obviously no point in sending a questionnaire as you will never get it back.

Perhaps a more complicated problem is to get a specification from the retailer so that you know what is in the material, especially if it is a compound of several ingredients.

[Xanthia]

I agree that it's of no use to send questionaire to retail outlets, will rather just stipulate in procedure that:
you will monitor buy small quantities from retailers ( I assume that it will mostly be the same stuff your buying)
if it is from a leading brand name, try and get info from the company
add as approved product at a later stage

[Charles.C]

Dear TonyM,

One of the first steps in a typical food HACCP study is to validate the status of the input ingredients. One of the reasons is the number of health related incidents which have proven to originate from unsafe raw materials. IMO, a response of “risk unknown” is simply inadequate. Sorry.

I suggest that the purchasing system you are describing above is an excellent example of how top retailers will not do business. Too much to lose.

It is true that ISO 9001, or maybe even earlier, introduced the “exception” clause but I fear the provisos which typically accompanied such an action would be almost equally unacceptable here.

Rgds / Charles.C