Brand Reputation Compliance (BRC) Global Standard Certification
We believe that we are the first hamper company to hold a AA grade BRC accreditation for Storage and Distribution. We take the assembly of hampers seriously and adhere to the industry regulations as well as constantly developing our own stringent internal controls. Designed to reflect best practice and our dedication to improving quality and safety, our BRC accreditation is testament to the commitment we make to our customers and employees, regarding best practice handling of food as well as ensuring the safety of our staff.
Global Standards
The BRC Global Standards are an internationally recognised safety and quality certification programme that has been developed by retailers and driven by retailers to help build confidence and safety in the food industry.
The standards have been designed to reflect best practice and facilitate a process of continuous improvement through well-designed risk-based product safety management systems.
Many retailers and brand owners will only ever do business with suppliers who hold an appropriate BRC accreditation.
Gold Seal Standard and HACCP System
Through a system of pre-production controls we ensure that all our hampers
reach or exceed our Gold Seal Standard before they are signed off in readiness
for being packed.
We test for:
- Presentation and layout of products
- Product safety requirements
- Packaging quantities to ensure accuracy of costings
Our appointed in-house quality control team use the HACCP system as a
control mechanism to allow each element of our product flow to be examined
and constantly audited to identify potential hazards that could arise.
Food Industry Regulations (FIR)
New ‘back of pack’ ingredient and allergen labelling legislation came into force in December 2014. We comply by making this information accessible as a link on the relevant hamper or gift product page on our website.
Each product that we feature on our website is accompanied with a link
to a PDF which includes listings of each product within the hamper, with
ingredients or nutritional information that is found on the packaging.
Ethical Trading Initiative
Virginia Hayward adopted the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) Base Code as it’s Ethical Trading Policy in 2006 and is committed to trading in a responsible & ethical manner.
Sedex
In October 2014 the company underwent a SMETA audit (SEDEX Members Ethical Trade Audit) conducted by Verisio Ltd an independent third party audit company.
Virginia Hayward has been a member of SEDEX since 2005 (SEDEX the Suppliers Ethical Data Exchange launched in 2004).
Food Hygiene Rating
Virginia Hayward have been awarded the highest Food Hygiene Rating of 5 by the Food Standards Agency.
FSC Accreditation
Virginia Hayward has an FSC Single Chain of Custody accreditation. We have FSC 100% claim on some of our baskets and containers. FSC 100% claim is for products based on inputs exclusively from FSCcertified natural forests or plantations.
FSC Chain of custody certification from forest to end-user ensures that FSC materials and products have been checked at every stage of processing so that customers purchasing FSC labelled products can be confident that they are genuinely FSC certified.
