8 December 2016
general
Traceability, Transparency and Organic Supply Chains
Our Quality Manager Maria Charlton explains how our high level of product traceability and transparency through the supply chain supports our ability to provide products that are free from adulteration.
At Organic Herb Trading our authenticity and integrity is verified by organic certification bodies through rigorous annual inspections, such as Soil Association and Demeter.
Unlike in conventional product supply chains, the organic certification system means that all organic suppliers are vetted and approved by independent certification bodies to ensure conformance to the standards. This results in products having their traceability systems tested in a robust and reliable way, from their origin with producers as well as their onward supply chain partners.
Typically, organic supply chains are shorter and in our case we pride ourselves on going direct to source where possible, and developing strong and long-term relationships with our suppliers. This reduces the potential risk associated with product integrity and opportunities for adulteration that are more likely in longer and more complex conventional supply chains.
At Organic Herb Trading we are certified to BRC Global Food Standard Certification, an independent third party in-depth audit taking place over two days which covers:
- Senior management commitment to food safety, quality and legality
- HACCP and Food Safety
- Quality management systems (specifications, procedures, supplier approval, internal audits, complaints)
- Site standards (buildings, pest control, lighting, cleaning, housekeeping)
- Product and process controls (product development, allergen control, metal detection, equipment maintenance and calibration)
- Personnel (training, personal hygiene)
The importance of BRC to us and our customers is so high that we have a full time member of staff dedicated to this area of our business, supporting Organic Herb Trading's continuous improvement plans and our ongoing commitment to be able to offer great quality and safe organic products to our customers.
A very positive product quality culture, and commitment from the Organic Herb Trading team to meet our targets for improvement, continues to drive the BRC process for us. We successfully completed our audit in early November - view all of our certifications, here.