Berri Estates in South Australia has been rewarded for its focus on driving enhanced safety and quality outcomes by achieving AA status (Food Safety category) following the recent BRC (British Retail Consortium) audit. It is the highest BRC rating achieved by Berri Estates, with the result placing the facility in the ‘world class’ category for safety and quality.
The BRC Global Standard is an internationally recognised rating system, accepted and specified by industry stakeholders worldwide, including retailers and manufacturers, as part of their supplier approval processes.
The audit process for Berri Estates involved a rigorous assessment of seven key areas – food safety and quality management systems; food safety plans; site standards; product controls; process controls; personnel; and senior management commitment and continual improvement.
According to Wayne Ellis – General Manager, Supply Chain and Operations, ANZ, the improved rating is an important achievement for the business.
“Achieving a world class AA rating is crucial in demonstrating to our current and potential customers that we are not only focused on safety and quality outcomes across our entire production and manufacturing processes, but that we have the results to prove it,” said Wayne.
According to Ryan Hodgson, Director of Manufacturing – Australia, the result is testament to the commitment of the entire team at Berri Estates and the support received from the wider business.
“The enormous amount of hard work from the entire team has seen the Berri Estates facility progress from having no accreditation to a world class AA rating in just three years. This is a terrific achievement and something everyone at Accolade Wines can be proud of,” said Ryan.
“While a wide range of safety and quality aspects have gone into achieving the AA rating, it has been the awareness and buy-in from the whole team towards continually improving our safety and quality standards that has been the driving force behind the achievement,” he added.
Not content to rest on these latest results, the Berri Estates team is now focused on continuing to drive even greater improvements across the facility’s safety and quality systems.
