IFS International Food Standard is a standard recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), an organization established and managed by the international trade association. IFS is a certification specifically meant for food and related product manufacturers and suppliers. This certification involves a thorough evaluation process for safety and quality of food products as well as production processes.
With growing concerns regarding food safety all over the world, global standards like this help maintain uniformity in the processes and ensures proper assessment of the companies in the industry. The standard specifically covers suppliers in the food industry. This standard is aimed at making it easier for retailers to choose quality suppliers and ensure safety of food products they offer to the end-consumer.
With the professional expertise of retailers, manufacturers, certification bodies and other experts worldwide, IFS develops globally recognised product quality and safety standards as well as development programs. Many retailers and brand owners worldwide prefer IFS Certification. An IFS Certificate shows them that the certified company has established resilient processes to ensure food and product safety are in line with legal requirements and customer specifications.
To complement this, IFS offers supportive tools and guidance documents to support the work of quality managers. The common goal of IFS is to strive for the best product quality and safety process management systems so that consumers can trust the products they buy.
- Features and Benefits
- Applicability
- Consulting Methodology
IFS Food Standard is aimed to create a uniform system for assessment of suppliers, with the focus on the safety of food products. The standard requires evaluation of processes at every level of manufacturing, from ingredients to packaging and distribution. The certification includes many specifications to ensure customer safety.
This certification brings many benefits to the company. Since the evaluation happens with the same framework of rules, having the certification increases retailers’ confidence in the supplier. Besides several gains that cannot be quantified, some of the most obvious benefits are:
- A viable proof to showcase the food safety of your products
- Improved confidence to reach new clients
- Monitoring of compliance with food regulations
- Improved risk management system
- Retaining existing clients & gaining new ones
- Enhancing the company’s reputation & image
- Reducing waste & defects
- Better profits
The IFS Food Standard certification process goes hand-in-hand with quality management standards that are already in place within the company. However, in cases where the company has not implemented other quality management systems, IFS standard does play the same role. Apart from the evaluation of any existing QMS, the process also inspects motivation and responsibilities of the top management, reformation of the production processes to meet safety regulations as well as care and consideration for the employees. The implementation includes planning entire production chains, and monitoring of the same at regular intervals.
The standard applies to all food manufacturers, especially those who produce and pack the products that fall into the category of ‘processed food’. This is a very essential standard for companies that supply food products with private labels that have become their brand.
Technocrat Consultants helps companies to restructure their processes to meet the needs of IFS Food Standard and acquire as well as retain the certification successfully.