Rob Nugent, operations director at Direct Table Foods (DTF), said the creation of a voluntary British Retail Consortium (BRC) audit meat module earlier this year had been an example of how the industry “can produce results”, when working together.
The BRC Meat Supply Chain Assurance module was designed to reduce multiple audits (and, therefore, audit costs) by including requirements that historically warranted a separate audit.
In this exclusive interview with FoodManufacture.co.uk, Nugent conceded that “people moan about too many audits, but that’s the game we’re in”.
‘Better way of doing things’
However, he added: “We collaborated with other people in our industry and through our trade association, the British Meat Processors Association to try to come up with a better way of doing things.
“And that precipitated what was launched earlier this year – the BRC’s voluntary meat module. It was a collaborative piece of work between the big meat and meat processing companies, and pretty much all of the major retailers.”
Based in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, DTF specialises in cured, smoked and sliced bacon. The site also produces lardons, bacon joints, gammon joint and steaks, as well as a variety of premium cured natural gammons and decorated Christmas joints.
To read Nugent’s account of how Suffolk-based DTF has managed to increase productivity through investment – part of our Me and My Factory series of profiles – order your copy of the September issue of Food Manufacture magazine.