The Manchester Rusk Company has become one of a number of companies in Europe to secure the much coveted BRC/EFSIS - higher level status.
The UK-based company attained the standard on its first inspection.
BRC/EFSIS is a food retail-driven accreditation and MRC is hoping that the securing of the award will help to increase its marketing presence in the food industry, where the business is already a prominent supplier of glazes, marinades, coatings, seasonings and sauces.
Its products, some of which sell under the brand name 'flava-it', are sold through High Street multiples, supermarkets and butchers shops throughout the UK and Ireland.
MRC says it has adopted a proactive approach and believes that the award will help speed up the supply chain from initial enquiry to delivery of the product.
"Not only should this assist existing customers but it should also encourage other large retailers to stock our product range as pre-supplier screening should be eliminated, due to the on-going auditing of MRC to maintain its BRC/EFSIS accreditation," a spokesperson for MRC said.
MRC is also to use its newly attained accreditation to spearhead a marketing campaign to highlight its entire product range.
The company says that it will maintain its commitment to its current customer base but will also exploit new market opportunities in the food trade, where it hopes to attract further supermarkets, multiples and 'cash & carry outlets' to stock its products.
Attaining the standard was a team effort according to the company's technical manager, Andy Hornsby. Hornsby said that although the company was already operating to standards that were appraised by customer auditors, a great deal of work was still required to ensure that the company attained BRC/EFSIS on its first attempt.
Hornsby added: "A key part of the BRC/EFSIS audit was the need to demonstrate that we not only had working procedures in place but that the company was attaining them. This requires an on-going dedicated commitment by our employees."
Operations manager Paul Hozack believes that the new standard will act as a catalyst for sales growth. "We are anticipating a sales increase of around 7 per cent per year based on the experience of other companies. This is because customers demand the total product safety, quality and legality that the BRC/EFSIS provides. It also brings with it confidence that the company is following 'best practice'," said Hozack.
MRC is now working towards attaining the latest environmental standard BS 8555 leading to ISO14,001.