A new future for your food business
Start is a food safety development programme created specifically to help developing food businesses build the structure, confidence and credibility needed to progress beyond local and HACCP-based certifications towards recognised certification.
Start certification goes beyond compliance, providing a route to new opportunities. Retailers and brands need safe, reliable supply partners, and Start helps developing businesses demonstrate readiness to meet those expectations and pursue further growth.
Start helps food businesses prepare to supply major retailers, providing assurance through a food safety system supported by leading retailers worldwide. With Basic and Intermediate certification levels to suit different business sizes, maturity and needs, it offers a clear pathway to Food Safety Issue 9, strengthens brand reputation through use of the BRCGS logo, and increases exposure to retailers through the BRCGS Directory.
A trusted first step of the journey
Start provides a clear, structured framework for organisations looking to strengthen their systems and demonstrate their commitment to continuous improvement.
Supporting business growth
Designed for businesses at different stages of maturity, Start helps organisations build capability, improve processes and prepare for more advanced certification requirements.
Confident and credible
Establish the foundations of effective product safety and quality management with the global leader in food safety certification.
Opening new opportunities
Start certification is recognised globally by major brands retailers enabling smaller businesses to get their products on the shelves of big retailers.
Get started with your free implementation pack
This free download is the perfect starting point. It provides the resources and guidance needed to implement the requirements and prepare for a Start certification audit. Most importantly, it includes the Get Started Assessment Tool which will be invaluable in the preparation stage.
Help & Guidance
Implementation pack
Implementation pack
The Get Started Implementation Pack is for food businesses embarking on Start certification.
It includes:
Start Standard Issue 2 (PDF) - Outlines what you need to do to become certificated and the requirements you need to comply with.
Interpretation Guideline (PDF) - Provides additional guidance on the best way to comply with each standard requirement and what an auditor will be looking for.
Get Started Assessment Tool (Excel) - Enables assessment of key areas of operation to provide an indication of the maturity of your food safety and quality management systems.
Get Started Assessment Tool Guideline (PDF) - Provides additional help to answer questions in the tool.
Site Self-Assessment Tool (Word) - Detailed checklists for Basic and Intermediate clauses that can be used to review compliance with START requirements.
Food Safety Management System to Start Transition Tool (Word) - For businesses considering moving from a generic system.
SALSA to Start Transition Tool (Word) - For sites in the UK considering moving from the SALSA standard.
Self-assessment checklists
Self-assessment checklists
BRCGS publishes self-assessment checklists for each standard providing a practical way to assess your operation against the standard requirements. This helps you build confidence ahead of your certification audit.
Covering every requirement of the standard, it helps you undertake a gap analysis of your level of compliance with the option to add comments and highlight improvement opportunities as you go.
The self-assessment checklist is included in the free implementation pack.
SALSA to Start
SALSA to Start
SALSA is a UK wide food safety scheme providing and ideal solution for many small and micro food producers, including those who are new to food safety certification. There is a clear and logical pathway for progression for SALSA certified sites to transition to Start certification with BRCGS.
If the answer is yes to these five questions, you are ready to move to Start.
Does the business operate from a commercial (non-domestic), government-registered facility?
Has the business been operating for more than five years in an approved facility?
Do you manufacture in premises that have a defined layout, segregation and foreign body detection equipment?
Does the business have more than 20 employees, including dedicated technical staff?
Do your current or potential customers require BRCGS certification?
To support this process, BRCGS has prepared a transition tool specifically for those moving from SALSA.
Other transition tools
Other transition tools
BRCGS has developed two transition tools: one to help sites move from a generic food safety management system (FSMS) to Start certification, and another to help Start certified sites progress to the Food Safety Standard Issue 9.
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