What BRCGS is and why buyers ask for it
BRCGS — the Global Standard for Food Safety, originally developed by the British Retail Consortium — is one of the most widely recognised food safety certification schemes in the world, and is recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). It sets out requirements across food safety, quality and operational criteria, and is designed to give retailers and brand owners confidence in their suppliers.
For many food manufacturers, BRCGS is simply a requirement of doing business: UK and European retailers frequently insist on it before they will list a supplier’s products, especially for own-brand lines. A clean BRCGS certificate, graded by the audit, is a recognised signal of a well-run, safe operation.
What certification covers
Certification assesses the operation against the requirements of the relevant BRCGS standard, typically including:
- Senior management commitment and the food safety culture
- The HACCP-based food safety plan
- Food safety and quality management systems
- Site standards, product, process and personnel controls
Audits result in a grade, and certification is maintained through regular re-audit.
How ABS helps
We prepare you for the certification audit in five steps, tailored to BRCGS:
- Scope and gap assessment — we agree the scope of your site and products in scope and assess what you already have against the standard, so you know exactly what to close.
- Implementation — we help you meet the standard’s requirements: senior management commitment and food safety culture, the HACCP-based food safety plan, the food safety and quality management system, and site, product, process and personnel controls.
- Internal audit and management review — we help you run the internal audits and management review the standard requires, so your site has a record of operating to it before the audit.
- Readiness check — a pre-assessment, approached the way an auditor would approach it, highlights anything still to close.
- Audit support — we support you through the certification body’s audit and help you close any non-conformities.
Typical timeline
For most food manufacturers, BRCGS certification takes around 12–16 weeks from kick-off, depending on the size and complexity of the site and the maturity of existing food safety systems. Each engagement begins with a fixed-price scoping call and a proposal within 24 hours.
Common questions
What is BRCGS and who requires it?
BRCGS is a GFSI-recognised certification scheme for food safety and quality, widely required by retailers — particularly UK and European supermarkets — as a condition of supplying own-brand and other products.
How does BRCGS relate to FSSC 22000?
Both are GFSI-recognised food safety schemes, so both satisfy a retailer’s requirement for a GFSI-benchmarked certification. Which you need depends on what your customers ask for; some manufacturers hold both. Many build from a HACCP foundation. It sits alongside FSSC 22000 in the Food, Automotive, Manufacturing & Lab Certifications portfolio for manufacturers.
How long does BRCGS certification take?
For most food manufacturers, BRCGS certification takes around 12–16 weeks from kick-off, depending on the size and complexity of the site and the maturity of existing food safety systems.
What does ABS do, and what does the certification body do?
ABS prepares you for certification: we assess your site against the standard, help you close the gaps, support your internal audit, check readiness and support you through the audit. The certification body, an accredited body approved by BRCGS, carries out the audit, grades the site and issues the certificate.
How often is a BRCGS site re-audited?
BRCGS works on a shorter cycle than ISO standards: sites are re-audited every 12 months, or every 6 months at the lower grades, and the certificate is renewed at each re-audit.
Which issue of the BRCGS standard is current?
The current version is Issue 9 of the BRCGS Global Standard for Food Safety, used for all audits since 1 February 2023, together with the BRCGS position statements that apply on your audit date.
