Outsourced/Subcontracted Processing Supplier Approval in BRC
Hello all,
I'm very grateful for this forum and read it quite often but I cannot find an answer to this question. I am reading the BRC Standard and want to confirm I am correlating the right segment to our operation.
We "process" (I use process loosely because we remove the foreign material from dry beans in the field and reduce the moisture with drying if necessary) dry beans, all of our beans are roasted or cooked at the customers facility after leaving here.
We have started to run short on a commodity. We want to purchase "finished cleaned beans" from another bean cleaner and relabel it. This would be considered subcontracting correct?
To meet the BRC requirements and sell those beans under BRC certification would I need to conduct an on site audit of that other cleaner? Dry beans are considered low risk only requiring a questionnaire for supplier approval if used raw. but I only see low risk applying to raw material not finished material? Another note the other cleaner is not audited to a GFSI audit scheme but has a HACCP plan and the other components in place.
Thank you for your help!
no is considered as a supplier
ask for :
letter of guarantee
supplier questionnaire
ask for a metal detector letter if you guys not ganna pass the product by metal detector
and a copy of their HACCP PLAN
Thank you for the input Sarah2014, do you have a good example of what would be considered subcontracting then?
Thank you again!
for example :
if you buy beans from a supplier, then you send it to another place or manufacture to clean it and take all the foreign material from it so you have to consider this manufacture as a co-manufacture or subcontracting because a portion of the overall process is assigned to an external company
Hi Sarah,
Indeed, I understand that seen the use of the product, the microbiological risk is low. But ... what about the foreign body risk? And for example the storage conditions, sensorial acceptance criteria of the finished product and the origin / species of the beans? Do these criteria match with your standards?
Such aspects are to be taken into consideration, when you source from a new supplier or subcontractor. It will be worth to carry out an audit. You'll regret of not having carried out one in the case of problems. And even if there are no problems, an audit creates a base of mutual understanding. The efforts won't be lost. The time you'll loose in case there are problems will be much more than the time you spent on a supplier audit.
Kind regards,
Gerard Heerkens
Thank you Gerard, I also have similar sentiments. I just wasn't sure about the requirements on the BRC end. Thank you again.
Dear BBauer,
You're welcome. Sorry that I've mixed up your names.
Kind regards,
Gerard