Focus on

From its temperature-controlled, fully insulated 14,000 square metre warehouse on Southampton’s Western Docks, the company has provided a vital link in the supply of tomatoes and other fruit from the Canary Islands for 20 years into the port of Southampton.

The company stores the produce delivered by three ships every week, which means the warehouse contains around 4,000 pallets at any one time.

The BRC standard delivers important benefits

By achieving the BRC standard, Southampton Fruit Handling Ltd reassures its customers in the Canary Islands – Fedex y Aceto Las Palmas y Tenerife – that their fruit produce is still of the highest quality prior to entering the distribution and retail links in the UK supply chain.

Specifically, the BRC standard ensures against poor handling, careless stock control and temperature abuse. As a result, retailers receive fewer customer complaints and they feel more confident in dealing with their Canary Islands-based supplier.

“Certification is a major part of our customer’s requirement,” says Margaret Jenkinson of Southampton Fruit Handling Ltd. “Their reps are here every day, as well as the retailers, and having the certification in place means we can continue to do business with them.”

The advantages of choosing SGS for BRC certification

Southampton Fruit Handling Ltd chose SGS for the new certification because of their professionalism.

The new BRC standard encourages auditors not only to look at the Quality manuals but also to go in and see what actually goes on and talk to people about their work practices.

For example, the issue of cleaning does not simply require looking at the cleaning schedules. Auditors must check on hygiene issues such as pest control, and they carry out internal and external checks on the store. Is it tidy? Is it secure? Are visitors authorised to be on site?

“We were very impressed with SGS. They were willing to work with us through the entire process,” says Margaret Jenkinson.

SGS auditors visited on 2 April 2007 and completed their work in a day. Following the audit, to comply with the stringent requirements of the standard, SGS closed out all issues raised during the audit before issuing certification.

SGS are members of the BRC recognition panel

By choosing SGS to audit to the BRC standard, Southampton Fruit Handling Ltd enjoy the guarantee that their products satisfy the requirements of the Global Standard for Storage and Distribution.

SGS have signed a contract with BRC and are on the BRC recognition panel of certifying bodies offering certification to the new standard.

About the new standard

The new BRC Global Standard for Storage and Distribution was developed to:

• Reduce customer visits.
• Reduce differences between different customer requirements.
• Promote consistency across the supply chain.
• Provide the UK retailers with a due diligence defence in the event of a legal challenge under the UK Food Safety Act 1990.

The SGS Group is the global leader and innovator in inspection, verification, testing and certification services. Founded in 1878, SGS is recognised as the global benchmark in quality and integrity. With more than 48’000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1’000 offices and laboratories around the world.