A101, which entered its 13th year in the retail sector, reported that within the scope of the improvement process it initiated to raise quality standards, it asked all its suppliers to fulfil the production conditions compatible with BRC or IFS standards until the end of 2022. The company decided not to continue with suppliers who could not meet this requirement.
A101 also shared the information that the suppliers who receive the highest category certificate from the unannounced audit conducted within the scope of BRC and IFS food safety standard will be covered by A101 for the audit fees to be made by A101.

In the meantime, we would like to remind companies that are already certified according to the IFS standard that a new version (7th) of this standard has been released.
In this latest revision, many changes were made and a total of 11 new articles were added. In particular, the risk-based approach was emphasised more. One of the noteworthy points in the new revision is that the auditor will spend more time on field audit rather than documentation.
Audits according to IFS version 7 will begin as of 1 March 2021. For organisations that are already IFS certified, audits according to the new version will start compulsorily from 1 July 2021.
As required by the standard, it is foreseen that unannounced audits will be carried out at least once every three years as of 1 January 2021. The audited organisation will decide which audits will be unannounced.
We would also like to draw your attention to the latest version of the BRC food safety standard (V8).
When we look at the standard as a whole, 43 of the 302 items in the new version are new, 26 articles have amendments and additions. 21 articles have minor corrections.
The extensive changes and additions bring updates and improvements in several areas, including the use of the BRC logo, the application of root cause analyses and documented information on traceability.
2021 will be a busy year in terms of quality and food safety management systems, both for A101 suppliers who already have IFS and / or BRC certification and for companies that will apply for certification for the first time.
As 10k Consultancy, we provide comprehensive training and consultancy services to ensure that you pass this challenging process quickly and reliably.
Contact us to find out our scope of service within the scope of IFS and BRC certificates.