HACCP and BRC certification: what food brands need before outsourcing fulfilment

Moving food stock into a Third-Party Logistics (3PL) warehouse hands someone else control of temperature, stock rotation, pest control and allergen separation. Your brand is still the name on the label, so when a customer receives a leaking jar or a short-dated pack, they come to you first.

Two terms come up in almost every food fulfilment conversation: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) and BRC Global Standards (BRCGS) certification. They overlap, they get used interchangeably, and they carry very different weight when you're choosing a provider.

This guide covers what each one means inside a fulfilment warehouse, which one your products need, what you need sorted on your side before you move stock, and how to check a 3PL's claims before you sign.

What HACCP certification means for a fulfilment warehouse

HACCP is the legal baseline. Under Article 5 of Regulation (EC) 852/2004, every food business has to put in place and maintain a food safety management system based on HACCP principles. In Great Britain that regulation now sits in assimilated law, and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) confirms that food businesses must use HACCP procedures or a HACCP-based system (GOV.UK). A warehouse storing and dispatching your food counts as a food business, so the requirement applies to your 3PL as much as it applies to you.

HACCP is built on seven principles:

1. Carry out a hazard analysis.

2. Identify the Critical Control Points (CCPs), the steps where control is essential to keep food safe.

3. Set critical limits for each CCP.

4. Monitor each CCP.

5. Define the corrective action when monitoring shows a CCP is out of control.

6. Verify the system is working.

7. Keep documents and records for all of it.

What that looks like in a 3PL

A fulfilment warehouse doesn't cook or process your product, so its hazards sit in storage, handling and dispatch. A good 3PL HACCP plan will cover:

• Goods-in: checking temperature on arrival, rejecting damaged or contaminated stock and recording batch and best-before dates.
  
  

• Storage: temperature monitoring for chilled and frozen zones, pest control, and keeping food away from chemicals and non-food goods that could taint it.
  
  

• Stock rotation: First Expired, First Out (FEFO) picking so customers don't receive short-dated or expired product.
  
  

• Damaged stock: quarantining a leaking or broken pack before it contaminates the stock around it.
  
  

• Dispatch: packing chilled orders with enough insulation and coolant to survive the courier journey, and hitting carrier cut-off times so parcels don't sit overnight.

For ambient packaged goods, some of these steps won't be true CCPs. For chilled and frozen products, temperature at storage and dispatch almost always will be.

Is there such a thing as HACCP certification?

The law requires the HACCP-based system itself. A certificate is optional. Some 3PLs pay a third-party auditor to review their HACCP plan and issue a HACCP certificate, which is useful evidence, but the value depends entirely on who issued it and what they checked. Treat a standalone HACCP certificate as a starting point for questions, then ask to see the plan.

What BRC certification covers

BRCGS certification is an independent audit that proves a warehouse's food safety system works in practice. The scheme started life as the British Retail Consortium's standard and rebranded as BRCGS in 2019, which is why most people still search for "BRC certification".

The standard that applies to 3PLs is the BRCGS Global Standard for Storage and Distribution. Issue 4 is the current version, launched in 2020 and written for logistics operations handling food, packaging and consumer products, with certificated sites in over 50 countries. It's recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), the benchmark many retailers use for supplier approval.

BRCGS updated the Issue 4 requirements from 10 August 2026 to align with the GFSI Benchmarking Requirements 2024, and auditors now look harder for evidence that procedures work day to day. A 3PL audited recently will have been assessed against the tougher version.

What the audit checks

The standard covers hazard and risk analysis (HACCP sits inside BRCGS), quality management including traceability and recalls, site standards such as cleaning, maintenance, pest control and temperature control, staff training and hygiene, and vehicle standards.

Sites can certify the full scope or only what they do, such as storage only or distribution only. They can also add optional modules for ecommerce, cross-docking, wholesale, contracted packing, inspection and waste management. For a direct-to-consumer food brand, the ecommerce and contracted packing modules are the ones to ask about.

How grades work

Grades run from AA (best) through A, B, C and D, then uncertified. An AA grade means no more than five minor non-conformities. A plus sign after the grade, such as AA+ or A+, means the site opted for an unannounced audit, where the auditor turns up without a fixed date.

An unannounced grade tells you more than an announced one. A site that scores A+ with no warning is often a safer bet than one that scored AA after weeks of preparation.

HACCP vs BRC: which one your products need

Every food 3PL needs a HACCP-based system by law. BRCGS is how you prove that system works, checked by an accredited auditor every year. The question is whether HACCP alone is enough for your products and your sales channels.

The approval point matters. Most food premises only need registration, but some premises must also be approved by the local authority. Confirm this before you move stock.

The practical line: a small brand shipping ambient, shelf-stable products can work with a well-run 3PL that has a solid HACCP plan and nothing more. Once you're shipping chilled product, selling into retail, or doing enough volume that a recall would hurt, a BRCGS-certified site is the safer default.

What your brand needs before outsourcing to a 3PL

A certified 3PL covers what happens inside its building. You're still responsible for the product itself, and a good provider will ask for most of the following during onboarding. Having it ready speeds up go-live and stops the 3PL guessing.

Food business registration: You need to be registered with your local authority, even once the stock leaves your premises. The FSA says companies involved in food distribution or supply that operate from an office should register, even if no food is kept there. New businesses must register at least 28 days before trading. If you're moving from in-house packing to a 3PL, tell your local authority about the change.

Your own HACCP-based system: It covers the parts you still control: supplier approval, product specifications, labelling and complaints. The FSA also expects businesses that change their operating model to review their HACCP procedures and check the change hasn't introduced new hazards.

A product specification for every Stock Keeping Unit (SKU): Storage temperature, shelf life, minimum life on dispatch, allergens, case size, stacking limits and any fragile or leak-prone packaging. This is the document your 3PL builds its handling rules from.

Allergen information that survives fulfilment: Food law requires allergen information for the 14 regulated allergens. For distance selling, it has to be available before purchase and again at delivery. For prepacked products, the label does the second job, so make sure your 3PL won't split cases, re-box or bundle products in a way that hides or separates the label.

Traceability records: You must keep records of who supplies you and who you supply. In practice that means your 3PL's Warehouse Management System (WMS) needs to record batch or lot numbers and best-before dates at goods-in, then tie them to individual orders at dispatch.

A recall plan: Agree in writing how quickly the 3PL can quarantine a batch and produce a list of customers who received it. The FSA's withdrawals and recalls guidance sets out what's expected of food businesses.

A packaging spec: Food sent by post needs packaging strong enough to stay intact, chilled food needs insulation and coolant, delivery should be as quick as possible (ideally overnight), and customers must be told when to expect it. Decide who designs and pays for this before go-live.

How to check a 3PL's certification

A PDF certificate in a sales deck proves very little. Run these checks before you shortlist.

1. Get the site code: Every BRCGS-audited site has a permanent 6 or 7-digit site code, printed on its certificate and audit report (BRCGS). Ask for it in writing.
   
   

2. Look it up in the BRCGS Directory: The Directory is the official database of BRCGS audits, and only certification bodies can update a site's status. The search now sits behind a free login, and it shows status in real time, including suspensions and withdrawals.
   
   

3. Match the address: Multi-site 3PLs sometimes hold a certificate for one warehouse and send overflow stock to another. Confirm the certified address is the building your stock will sit in.
   
   

4. Read the scope: Check that the scope covers your product categories (ambient, chilled or frozen) and your activities, including the ecommerce or contracted packing modules if you need them.
   
   

5. Check the grade, audit type and expiry: Note whether the grade is announced or unannounced, and when the certificate expires. A certificate due to lapse in the first month of your contract deserves a direct question.
   
   

6. Ask for the last audit report: Audit owners can share their full report through the Directory. The non-conformities tell you more than the grade does.
   
   

7. Ask to see the HACCP plan: For a site without BRCGS, this is your main evidence. Look for CCPs relevant to your product, how often they're monitored, what happens when a limit is breached and when the plan was last reviewed.
   
   

8. Visit: Walk goods-in, look at the temperature logs, ask where damaged stock goes and watch a few orders being picked. Ten minutes on the floor tells you whether the paperwork matches the operation.

Where food fulfilment goes wrong

Certification lowers the risk, and problems still happen. These are the problems that come up most often once food stock is live in a 3PL, and each one is worth raising before you sign.

Batch and date data missing at goods-in: If stock is booked in by SKU alone, the WMS can't pick by expiry. Customers end up receiving short-dated product while fresher stock sits on the shelf, and a recall becomes guesswork.

Chilled orders missing carrier cut-off: A chilled parcel that misses the last collection sits on a dock overnight with its coolant running down. Ask what happens to chilled orders picked after cut-off.

Damaged stock left in place: A broken jar of sauce in a pick face contaminates every case around it. Look for a clear quarantine process and ask who decides whether nearby stock is written off.

Allergen cross-contact during kitting: Hampers, bundles and subscription boxes mean staff handle several products together. If any product is unwrapped or repacked, allergen separation has to be in the HACCP plan.

Peak season staffing: Agency staff brought in for peak may not have food hygiene training, and pick accuracy drops when volumes spike. Ask how temporary staff are inducted on food accounts.

Food stored next to the wrong goods: Chemicals, fragranced products and some non-food items can taint food. Ask how the 3PL zones food away from other clients' stock.

Slow recall response: The real test of traceability is how fast the 3PL can tell you which customers received a specific batch. If they can't give you a time, assume it's slow.

Questions to ask a food 3PL before you sign

Take these into every shortlist call. Strong providers answer them quickly and with evidence.

1. What's your BRCGS site code, current grade and certificate expiry date, and was the last audit announced or unannounced?
   
   

2. Does your certificate cover the exact building my stock will be stored in?
   
   

3. Which product categories and modules are in scope: ambient, chilled, frozen, ecommerce, contracted packing?
   
   

4. Can I see your last audit report and the non-conformities you closed out?
   
   

5. Which CCPs in your HACCP plan apply to my products, and how often are they monitored?
   
   

6. Does your WMS record batch and best-before dates at goods-in and pick by FEFO?
   
   

7. What's your minimum remaining shelf life on dispatch, and can it be set per SKU?
   
   

8. How do you quarantine damaged or contaminated stock, and who approves write-offs?
   
   

9. How quickly can you produce a list of customers who received a specific batch?
   
   

10. What's your cut-off for chilled orders, and what happens to orders picked after it?
    
    

11. How are agency staff trained before working on food accounts during peak?
    
    

12. Is your site registered, and does it need local authority approval for my products?

Compare food-ready 3PLs

Tell us what you sell, your order volumes and how your products need to be stored, and you can compare 200+ fulfilment partners side by side on pricing and service. Use the questions above to shortlist, then we'll make the introduction to the 3PL you choose.