The ABCs of BRC

February 11, 2021

At the end of last year Inland earned its BRC certification at our Neenah, WI facility! In case you don’t already know, BRC is an internationally recognized mark of food safety. It stands for British Retail Consortium, which is the trade association that created the guidelines. Today we’d like to introduce you to Tricia! She is our Director of Product Development and Innovation. Her and other members of our internal teams worked tirelessly to pass our BRC audit!

About BRC

Can you explain to us what being BRC Certified means?

The BRCGS (the certification’s full name) falls under the Global Food Safety Initiative, or GFSI for short. Our recent certification is specific to our Neenah, Wisconsin facility. Earning this certification shows we are focused on quality, functionality, and safety for the food packaging that we produce!

How long is the certification good for?

Every year we will need to go through an audit to make sure we are still meeting the BRCGS standards.

Benefits of BRC

What are some of the benefits of being BRC Certified?

The two biggest benefits are continuous improvement and staying up to date on the food packaging market. When you implement a system to support the BRCGS standards, it increases continuous improvement. This often leads to improved quality of the packaging we offer. Because we have better visibility of the standards, we are able to stay on the forefront of the changes happening in the food packaging market, including changes in the regulatory space.

Why is being BRC certified a benefit to a label and packaging company?

The biggest reason is our customers. This certification gives an added boost to their confidence in the safety and quality of the packaging we produce at Neenah. It shows that we are committed to providing our customers with high quality and safe products.

Criteria for BRC

What are some critical aspects companies need to consider when aiming for BRC Certification?

It’s crucial to establish and maintain strong GMP (good manufacturing practices) within the manufacturing facility that is supported at all levels of the organization. Also, develop a strong internal auditing program to ensure continued visibility to the facility’s performance related to the BRCGS standards throughout the year.

Now that we are certified, how do we maintain it?

Our work does not stop once we achieve the initial BRCGS certification. We will continue to work with and train our team members on GMP practices as well as identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.

We want to extend a big thank you to our internal teams that put in the hard work to becoming BRC certified! As you can tell it’s not easy but getting certified means we are better able to support our customers by producing high quality and safe products.  If you want to keep up with the latest happenings at Inland Packaging, check out our bi-monthly newsletter, the Inland Informer!