GFSI

In short

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) is run by The Consumer Goods Forum. It does not audit or certify companies. It sets benchmarking requirements and checks certification schemes against them. A scheme that passes is "GFSI-recognised".

When a buyer writes "we need a GFSI certificate", the right question is: which scheme? Examples of recognised schemes for food manufacturing are BRCGS Food Safety, FSSC 22000, IFS Food and SQF. ISO 22000 on its own and HACCP are not on the list.

What it covers

• Explains what "GFSI-recognised" means and why buyers use it
• Lets a buyer accept several schemes as equivalent instead of naming one
• Provides the benchmarking requirements that each scheme is checked against

What it does not cover

• There is no "GFSI certificate": the certificate always comes from one of the recognised schemes
• Recognition is of the scheme, not of the company that holds a certificate

Who asks for it

Large retailers, brand owners and industrial buyers write GFSI recognition into their supplier rules.

How to check a certificate

Ask which recognised scheme the supplier holds, then check the certificate in that scheme’s own register.

How a company gets it

1. Ask the buyer which schemes they accept
2. Pick the scheme that matches your products and markets
3. Follow that scheme’s route to certification

Questions