Get Your Food and Food Products Certification Quote
One rejected consignment costs more than a decade of certification
Retail chains, importers and institutional caterers send auditors into the plant before they commit volume. They look at temperature records, pest control, allergen segregation and whether traceability holds up when you pull a batch code at random. ISO 22000 and the GFSI-recognised schemes built on it turn that inspection into a walk-through.
You need certification if…
- !A buyer’s technical questionnaire arrives asking for a GFSI-recognised scheme, and the HACCP certificate on the wall no longer satisfies it.
- !Consignments held at a border over labelling, residue limits or certification paperwork everyone believed was in order.
- !Moving from bulk wholesale supply into private-label manufacturing for a national retail account.
- !Foreign matter complaints keep repeating on the same line, and corrective actions never seem to hold past a month.
- !Ammonia refrigeration, new cold stores and a second packing line have outgrown arrangements written for a smaller plant.
- !Lenders or investors want documented recall capability tested at least once before releasing funds for expansion.
What an auditor actually walks into
The audit follows raw material from goods-in through storage, processing, cleaning cycles, packing and despatch, then asks you to trace one finished pack all the way back.
How Certification Works - 4 Steps
No black box. A defined, time-bound route from first call to certificate in hand.
Application & Proposal
Share product categories, processes such as thermal treatment or freezing, line and shift counts, and any co-packing done for other brands. Seasonal production decides when the audit can realistically run.
1–2 daysGap Review & Readiness
The HACCP plan is usually sound. It is the probe that was last calibrated in March, and the supplier file holding a certificate that expired two audits ago.
1–2 weeksStage 1 + Stage 2 Audit
Stage 2 runs during production. The auditor watches a critical control point being monitored, checks metal detector challenge tests, walks drains and roof voids, and questions line staff.
Scheduled around operationsCertificate Issued
Issued under IAS accreditation with the IAF mark, the certificate is what a retailer’s vendor approval team verifies before your supplier code goes live and the first purchase order releases.
Valid 3 yearsCertifications Applicable to the Food and Food Products
Each one maps to a real requirement or risk in this sector.
Management System
10Integrated Management System - ISO 9001 + ISO 14001 + ISO 45001
One integrated audit instead of three separate ones. Shared documentation, fewer audit days, lower total cost, and the exact trio that tenders and corporate buyers ask food and food products suppliers for.
Not Sure Which Certification You Need?
Three questions. The selector reads the same industry-to-standard mapping this whole site is built on, then shortlists what applies to you.
What has put certification on the table right now?
A vendor code opens after the audit, not before
Food audit quotes go wrong on process count, not tonnage. Four thermal processes and a co-packing line is a different audit from one product family, and that distinction is what we need before quoting a duration.
Get My Free Quote →What Certification Changes for Food and Food Products Businesses
Certification is not a certificate on the wall. It is a working system that pays for itself.
Get on the vendor list
Vendor registration portals will not accept a supplier without a recognised food safety certificate. Certification converts a stalled application into an active supplier code.
Loads accepted at goods-in
Most rejections trace back to documentation, labelling or a temperature gap rather than the product. Controlled records at despatch remove the arguments that hold loads at the gate.
Trace a batch in hours
When a complaint escalates, cost is decided by how much stock you withdraw. Tight lot coding and mass balance narrow a recall from a week’s output to one shift.
Lower utility and waste cost
Refrigeration, boilers and effluent treatment are the three bills a food plant can actually move. Measured baselines find the savings and the system stops them drifting back.
A cold chain that holds
Temperature abuse happens between the plant and the shelf, where nobody is watching. Defined handover controls and monitored transport put responsibility on record at each transfer.
Private label doors open
Brand owners audit contract manufacturers harder than they audit their own sites. A GFSI-recognised scheme is the entry ticket to that conversation, not an advantage within it.
Knowledge Base - Downloads
Practical documents prepared by our auditors. Fill the short form once and every download on the page unlocks.
Mock recall and traceability test checklist
How to run a four-hour mass balance exercise across a batch, what evidence to keep, and the gaps these tests usually expose.
Choosing between HACCP, ISO 22000 and FSSC
What each certificate proves, which buyers accept which, and the cost of upgrading later rather than choosing correctly at the start.
Supplier approval and raw material specification pack
Specification, approval questionnaire and verification schedule templates for ingredient and packaging suppliers, including allergen, origin and certification status declarations.
Allergen control on shared production lines
Production sequencing, cleaning validation, labelling checks and the changeover records an auditor examines when a single line runs several recipes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers to what buyers ask before they commit to certification.
We hold HACCP. Why is our buyer asking for FSSC 22000?
Does the audit have to happen while the plant is producing?
Can one certificate cover several plants and a contract packer?
How is an export consignment rejection usually prevented?
Our plant is small. Is certification proportionate?
Will certification stop a recall?
Certify the plant, not the paperwork
Under IAS accreditation the certificate is verifiable in 30+ countries, and a retail vendor approval team will verify it. Name the scheme your buyer specified and the plant that has to hold it.
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