Companies that do international business and trade in agricultural commodities and packaged food products must meet tough international standards to ensure the confidence and health safety of the end user or consumer. For companies in the cold supply chain, the channel for products that require refrigeration to prevent spoilage, there is no more stringent international industry test than the BRC — the British Retail Consortium Global Standard Audit for Storage and Distribution.
Following an intensive independent audit, Adams Cold Storage (ACS) in Auburndale has met the BRC test and will receive its official certification in a matter of days, making it the very first BRC-validated company in Florida and only the fourth in the United States.
Based in London, the BRC has several certification bodies throughout the world. They include AIB International in Manhattan, Kan. AIB has expanded greatly from its founding as the American Institute of Baking to serve many worldwide segments of the food-processing, food-service, food-distribution, and retail food industries. Over two days, two AIB auditors extensively interviewed ACS personnel and analyzed and documented all company systems and processes, including food-handling and storage protocols and procedures, facilities, maintenance and recordkeeping. And in every area, ACS was shown to meet BRC standards.
What the publicly reviewable BRC validation shows to ACS customers — its shippers and receivers — and to federal, state and local government agencies is that the company is fully committed to meeting the highest possible industry standards and that its link in the international cold supply chain will be the strongest possible.
CREDIT
column by BEN ADAMS, JR.
BIO: Ben Adams, Jr. is an owner and president of Adams Cold Storage, LLC, in Auburndale, Fla. He has been directly involved in citrus production, warehousing and distribution, as well as state and community support, since 1980. His current facility incorporates 200,000 square feet of multi-temperature warehousing, with an extensive expansion plan on the horizon.
