Sourcing, which refers to procuring raw materials and components from suppliers, is an aspect of a food business that is important to its operation. As a food business operator, you don’t produce the ingredients that are put together to manufacture your product or develop your menu (if you operate in the restaurant part of a food business). Your supplier approval and monitoring program is a part of your facility’s food safety management system. The supplier approval and monitoring program is not a set-and-forget program; it extends from stringent vetting processes for supplier qualification to ongoing performance evaluation and collaborative improvement initiatives. In your food business operation, your supplier approval and monitoring program helps protect your food business against supply chain risks, ensuring regulatory compliance of your supplier is closely monitored and testifies for the ethical practices of your supplier. It also lays a foundation for enduring and mutually beneficial relationships with your suppliers.

A well-executed Supplier Approval and Monitoring Program significantly influences your food business’ food safety and quality by ensuring that your suppliers adhere to stringent standards. This proactive approach minimizes the risk of contamination, enables traceability, and safeguards against potential recalls. Additionally, ongoing monitoring contributes to consistent product quality, aligning with regulatory requirements and reinforcing your food business commitment to delivering safe and quality food products.

Criteria to Consider for Supplier Qualification

Selecting a supplier demands a proper guideline or sufficient dimensions of criteria to identify a fitting supplier. The criteria standards can differ from one food business to another, but in this article, we provide a general guideline that you can model for your food business.

1. Supplier’s service: in using this criteria for your supplier qualification, you consider factors such as the response speed and supply capacity of such supplier.
2. Cost criteria: this deals with the cost associated with your business purchasing from that particular supplier. It includes purchase costs, transportation costs, and operational costs.
3. Supplier’s delivery: here, you consider factors such as the supplier’s delivery reliability, fill rate, and delivery lead time.
4. Quality criteria: this is the aspect that relates to the safety and quality of the material purchased from the supplier, and it is arguably the most important when it comes to your food business supplier approval and monitoring program. Under this criterion, you focus on the audit result, defects analysis, and documentation of the report from the supplier. Audit results and defect analysis are ranked highly; an audit result review of the supplier helps determine the appropriate food safety practices in the supplier’s food processing industry, and defect analysis helps determine the potential safety risks in the raw material and seeks to reduce or eliminate them.

Auditing your Supplier and Carrying Out a Defect Analysis

A supplier audit is essential to ensure food safety and quality through your food business’ supplier approval and monitoring program. You conduct these audits regularly to verify supplier compliance with established quality standards, regulatory requirements, and food safety practices. During the supplier audit, you should assess the supplier’s quality standards and regulatory compliance and meticulously review their documentation. Your auditing process should involve on-site inspections, interviews with key personnel, and, if applicable, sampling and testing of raw materials. As you review audit results, you objectively score findings and collaboratively develop corrective action plans for any identified non-conformities with your supplier.

Defect analysis is inherently tied to continuous improvement, providing valuable insights to enhance your supplier’s processes, refine quality control measures, and strengthen your overall supply chain. You examine any deviations or abnormalities identified during the audit inspections, including issues such as physical flaws, contamination, or deviations from specifications that could compromise the safety or quality of your products. Once defects are spotted, the next step involves a comprehensive root cause analysis, delving into the processes, equipment, or conditions that could have contributed to these deviations. This systematic approach, which includes data gathering and potentially engaging with key personnel, aims to correct immediate issues and implement preventive measures.

Supplier’s Code of Conduct

Your Suppliers Code of Conduct serves as a set of guidelines and expectations that you, as a business, establish for your suppliers to ensure ethical, social, and environmental responsibility. It is a framework for promoting fair and sustainable practices throughout your supply chain. You reserve the right to terminate contracts with suppliers who violate this Code of Conduct.

What are the key areas your supplier code of conduct should cover?

1. Legal compliance
2. Ethical business practices
3. Labor standards
4. Environmental responsibility
5. Health and Safety
6. Quality standards
7. Confidentiality and intellectual property
8. Compliance monitoring

At Fresh Group, we help our clients ensure their food safety management system covers all the necessary aspects regarding food safety. To this end, we assist our clients in setting up their supplier approval and monitoring system to ensure they are proactive in managing food safety risks in their supply chain.

Contact us today to get a free consultation on how our services can be of benefit to your food business.