Food Safety Matters

Alex Holland, Technical Manager at OV Tenbury Wells says:” BRC audits demonstrate the high standards of food safety worked to all year round across the OV group. A good BRC score gives our customers confidence that they are working with a company that has high food safety standards.”

We’re proud to say that in 2022 all our sites have again passed their inspection with flying colours, being given the top grades of AA or AA+ (+ denotes the audit was unannounced).

An audit typically lasts 1-3 days but is prepared for every day throughout the year.

Case study: St Ives

At OV in St Ives, as at our other sites, the team prepares year-round for their audit, regularly reviewing their procedures and monitoring for adherence to the standard. Keeping open channels of communication within and across departments is crucial to gather insight, and to make improvements.

Quality Manager Fleur Jones says: “Having knowledgeable and experienced highly trained staff is vital to ensuring food safety culture is adhered to. The openness of staff and a willingness to engage with auditors and customers alike has been highly regarded by all who have attended our site. This gives staff confidence and motivation to keep improving our standards.”

Case study: OV Cake Decor, Glasgow

Up in Glasgow, Scotland, the team at OV Cake Decor prepare for the audits by carrying out daily walk round audits then, every Friday, the best department is crowned ‘area of the week’. This friendly competition has been an extremely important tool, with every team determined to achieve the title.

Nicola Shanley, Technical Support Manager, said: “It certainly paid off when the site had an unannounced audit in October last year as we achieved the highest grade, an AA+. The team really came together to support each other, and the auditor was very complimentary regarding how knowledgeable staff are in their roles.”

Find more out about OV Cake Décor here.

Case study: OV Malmö, Sweden

The team take the audit equally seriously at our OV site in Malmo, Sweden where preparations also take place all year. Like all our OV other sites, the high standards achieved reflect the hard work OV puts into prioritising food safety and high-quality products.

Caroline Heathcote, Quality and Environment Manager at the site, said: “We’re delighted to have again achieve the AA grade at our site this year. This reflects our strong food safety culture, enhances our team in a great way and shows our customers that we work together towards producing and understanding the importance of safe food.”

PROTECTING YOU AND YOUR CUSTOMERS

Food safety guidelines protect everyone in the supply chain, from consumers through to brands and at OV, we have a strong commitment to food safety culture at all our sites around the world.

We’re making continuous improvements to make sure we achieve the very highest levels of food safety and food quality at all our sites and the BRC Audits are a vital measure of our success.

Find out more about the British Retail Consortium.