The Brentwood, Essex-based facility was awarded an A Grade following a thorough and detailed audit in November and received the official certification last Tuesday (12 January).

The company said the accreditation gives assurance to its trade customers that the packaging they are supplying their customers is produced in a facility with the highest hygiene standards, in addition to the highest production standards they already receive.

BRCGS stands for “British Retail Consortium Global Standard”, which is a standard for ensuring that the producers of food and related materials for sale to the public are doing so in a safe and legal way.

The major retailers in the UK started the BRC organisation and made its suppliers comply with it to reduce the risk of selling food that would make its customers ill.

The standard is based on having good manufacturing practices which includes hygiene standards and policies. It is used worldwide by manufacturers producing packaging materials for any product that ends up in the hands of consumers and is a requirement from most major brands in the FMCG sector.

BakPac general manager Phil Smith said: “We are producing packaging in BakPac that will be in contact with the food that people eat and without BRC we will not be able to gain certain types of business so receiving accreditation was a critical part of our business plan.

“Since launching we have been working with the required standards but achieving certification takes time as there are quite rightly a number of detailed process to go through. We were assessed on all aspects of the business, from the quality of the facility and equipment to provision of staff training and their protective clothing and personal hygiene.

“The system is risk-based, using tools such as the HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) study which was first developed by NASA to ensure the food being sent into space with astronauts was not going to make them ill. Having an upset stomach in space is probably not the best situation to be in!

“The team here worked diligently in the months leading to the audit to see it through. It’s a big step forward for us at BakPac to now have the BRC standards formally confirmed and certified.”

The BakPac facility was purpose built within one of the factory units at Baker Labels during 2019. With an investment of £2.5m, the business created a sealed food safe area that runs equipment from HP, Karlville, AB Graphic and Enprom. The flexible packaging division was formally launched in February 2020.

A family business established by Roy and Marian Baker in 1973 and now headed up by managing director Steve Baker, Baker Labels employs nearly 100 staff and has a turnover of £10.6m.