Opportunities for SMEs

• Strong demand for local, organic and ethnic foods

• Market research and consumer trials through producers’ markets and farmers’ markets

• Public procurement tender contracts are broken into smaller lots

Local Sourcing and/or Quality

• Tesco sells £500M of local produce annually

• Tesco’s sales of local produce grew 40% in 2008

• Tesco’s 2011 target is £1 billion sales of local produce

SMEs – Quality & Creativity

• Speciality, quality products that are genuinely different

• Companies with good product development skills

• New wave of owner/managers with marketing and financial skills

Offences Food Safety Act 1990

The Food Safety Act 1990 makes it an offence to sell food for human consumption which:

• is injurious to health• fails to comply with food safety requirements• is not of the nature, substance or quality as demanded by

the final consumer• is falsely described, labelled or advertised for sale

Due Diligence Defence

The due diligence defence enables someone to be acquitted of an offence if they prove they:

• took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing an offence

• burden of proof lies with the defendant• case made on balance of probabilities and not all reasonable

doubt• courts decide what is reasonable in each case

Due Diligence Obligations

• Detailed specification - product complies with compositional & safety standards and GMP

• Supplier is competent to produce specified product and operates production control systems

• Customer to verify supplier’s competence – questionnaires or audits

• Maintain a product testing/analysis programme

EU Regulation 852/2004

• Food Hygiene Regulation effective from 1st January 2006 in the UK

• Requires procedures based on HACCP principles

• Documentation and record keeping appropriate for size and type of business

The certification scheme to meet the due-diligence needs of national buyers

sourcing food from local producers

Interested Parties

• Retailers• Foodservice• Food Manufacturers• Farmers• Food Standards Agency• DEFRA• Food From Britain• Food Technology Centres• Small Business Service

• NHS

• Chartered Institute of Environmental Health

• Institute of Food science and Technology

• IMPROVE ( Food & Drink Sector Skills Council)

• Forum of Private Business

• University of Salford

Stakeholder vision

• should be a ‘scheme’ and not just another standard

• must ‘add value’ to small businesses

• minimal costs but within a controlled framework

• managed by a professional, competent body

Fundamentals

• product safety

• product legality

• supplier and buyer due-diligence

• appropriate to small businesses

Partners in Joint Venture

Some of the scheme supporters

Continuous Improvement

• SALSA is a stepping stone towards and not an alternative to BRC

• Manufacturers attempting SALSA “typically” have < 20 production staff and sales < £1M

• Customers have the final day and may insist that a small manufacturer has BRC certification rather than SALSA approval if producing high risk foods

SALSA Meets Due Diligence Needs

SALSA scheme standards ensures producers have:

• Pre-requisite controls on ingredients, processes, products, personnel and premises

• HACCP system – control of physical, chemical and microbiological hazards

• Quality management system – documented policies, procedures, specifications and records

SALSA Scheme To Date

• Successful pilot conducted in Scotland• First certificates awarded in March 2007• Official launch of scheme at IFE 2007• As at April 2009, 1560 online registrations

Manufacturers 1073, Buyers 403, Auditors 84• Manufacturers – 1,073 registered, 445 members, 249

first audits, 66 annual audits

SALSA Audit & Approval

• Auditor approved and registered by IFST and SALSA trained

• Audit typically takes 0.5 days

• Advice and mentoring is integral to the audit

Auditor & Mentor Approval

• IFST Register of Professional Food Auditors & Mentors Demonstrates credible experience in given sectors Demonstrates auditor qualification and experience

• SALSA application form and declaration completed

• Professional indemnity insurance certificate required

• Annual attendance at a one-day training seminar

• Annual registration to IFST – PFAM

Supplier Approval

• SALSA operations make approval decision based on auditor’s recommendation and a review of supplier’s returned action plan

• if approved, certificate of is placed in directory and report emailed to supplier

• if not approved, no certificate in directory but report still issued – supplier re-applies for audit when ready

• supplier given further advice by SALSA operations regarding further support and resources available

Pricing Policy from April 2008

• Supplier membership £50• First year audit £450 • Membership includes access to web-based

information and resources and entry into SALSA directory

• Audit fee includes cost of one audit, report and publication of certificate in Suppliers directory

• Audit fee inclusive of local travel expenses• Annual membership £500 (including audit fee)

SALSA Website• designed to facilitate buyer access to local producers• designed to be simple and easy to use• SALSA directory of suppliers and approval status

accessible to buyers• online membership of scheme for suppliers gives

access to valuable information, guidelines, support and book an audit

• directory of Mentors accessible to suppliers

Benefits of SALSA• The scheme allows small manufacturers to provide

assurance of food safety and increase their access to larger customers

• The scheme provides rigorous approval using the scheme standard that is appropriate and proportionate to the size of the producer

• The scheme fulfils the requirements of the Government’s sustainability strategy and its Public Sector Procurement Initiative

www.salsafood.co.uk