Overview
Developed by retailers and used by all types of organisations, the BRCGS Global Standards are a market-leading global brand that help build confidence in the supply chain.
Our Global Standards for Food Safety, Packaging Materials, Storage and Distribution, and Consumer Products set the standard for good manufacturing practice, and help provide assurance to your customers that your products are safe.
Independent research, carried out by the University of Birkbeck, demonstrates that organisations operating to BRCGS standards improve food safety, operational efficiency, commercial growth, improved profitability and broad-based innovation.
BRCGS began in 1996 when the British Retail Consortium (BRC), in response to industry needs, developed the BRC Food Technical Standard, first published in 1998.
The Global Standard for Food Safety was used to evaluate manufacturers of retailers' own brand food products. And it was designed to help retailers and brand owners produce food products safely and of consistent quality, which would help with a 'due diligence' defence, should they be subject to a prosecution by the enforcement authorities.
BRCGS Directory
The BRCGS Directory is the platform where all audits are uploaded, and specifiers and brand owners can ask a supplier to share the result and be notified of any resultant non-compliance or grade changes.
Our team can quickly compile a supply chain view for a specifier or brand owner, highlighting weak and strong points, problem categories, common non-compliances and recommendations for continual improvements. The specifier or brand owner can benefit from greater supply chain transparency and has the ability to take action to make it more robust.
Success and worldwide use
Very quickly, this Global Standard became invaluable to other organisations in the sector, not just in the UK, but across the world. It was, and still is, regarded as the benchmark for best practice in the food industry. And it's this benchmark and its worldwide use that's seen the Global Standard used, not just to assess retailer suppliers, but as a framework by which many companies base their supplier assessment programs and manufacture of branded products.
The introduction of further Global Standards
Following the success and widespread use of what is now the Global Standard for Food Safety, BRCGS published the first issue of the Packaging Standard in 2002, followed by the Consumer Products Standard in 2003, Storage and Distribution Standard in 2006, Agents and Brokers Standard in 2014, the Retail Standard in 2016, and the Ethical Trade and Responsible Sourcing Standard in 2019.
Each Global Standard is regularly reviewed, revised and updated at least every three years after extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders.
There are now over 28,000 certificated suppliers in over 130 countries, and a network of more than 90 accredited and BRCGS-recognised certification bodies.
Today, many retailers and brand owners worldwide will only do business with suppliers who have gained certification in the appropriate BRCGS scheme.
