Achieving accreditation in the widely accepted BRCGS For Packaging Materials at Zipform Packaging’s Melbourne plant, showcases the dedication towards embedding a food safety culture within the team. John Bigley takes us through the process.
Zipform Packaging achieved its first BRCGS accreditation in 2016 for the Perth manufacturing facility, with the new Melbourne plant achieving initial accreditation in January 2024 and then attaining re-accreditation in January 2025 following another extensive audit.
Motivated by a desire for a quality and risk management system which was recognised globally, Zipform Packaging wanted to also prove that they were serious about food and product safety. With a desire to create packaging materials that met necessary compliance levels from the sourcing of materials right through to delivery of products to customers, after just 3 months of operations the Melbourne plant was ready to be audited in December 2023.
Deciding the right food safety standard
Despite three different global standards for food safety – BRCGS Food Safety Global Standard, FSSC 22000 and ISO 22000 Food Safety Standards – it was still a simple choice for John Bigley from Zipform Packaging when selecting the standard which would become the cornerstone for their quality and management systems.
“BRCGS and FSSC are both recognised globally by the Global Food Safety Initiative, whilst ISO 22000 is not. The BRCGS auditing process is also well supported in Australia through SGS, which was important to us to ensure the process was as detailed and thorough as possible.
The focus we have on food safety is the cornerstone for our quality and management systems which serve our customers – it proves that we are serious about food and product safety.”
An extensive process
As a reflection of the day-to-day quality controls at Zipform Packaging, meeting the requirements of the audit was just another day in the eyes of the team. Two key members of Zipform Packaging – Luisa Fuentes, QHSE Manager and Daniel Kilpatrick, Production & Technical Manager, led the charge over two full days with input from the rest of the management team.
John comments,
“We had the benefit of using the experience we had gained from the BRCGS auditing process for our AA accredited Perth plant, and fortunately a great deal of the documentation was able to be replicated. Having experience across the plants certainly gave us the qualifications needed to attain the AA rating.”
The move to sustainable packaging
Many in the packaging industry believe that the BRCGS Standards are necessary for organisations looking to move into sustainable packaging.
John Bigley said that such standards were necessary for the food packaging industry as a whole, not just for sustainable packaging alone,
“Any packaging manufacturer – not just of sustainable packaging – must operate and be certified against a set of standards if they want to be a key player in the market. The prime role of food packaging is to protect and preserve the contents within, and there is no better way to do that than operate to a set of globally recognised food safety standards.
Whilst Zipform Packaging is making considerable inroads into sustainable packaging, our AA status in BRCGS Standards is applicable across all types of packaging we produce for clients.”