EGYPT – Huhtamaki’s new flexible packaging unit in Egypt has received the highest rating of AA in a British Retail Consortium (BRC) audit earlier this month.
The classification “AA” was introduced by the BRC as an excellence level to foster continuous improvement and is geared towards sites that have already reached the Grade A and is achieved by sites with less than 5 minor non-conformities.
Located in the greater Cairo, the new unit which the global food packaging firm based in Finland inaugurated in April 2019, saw the firm invest a up to US$26.03 million.
The new Egypt unit is now certified to the BRC Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials Issue 5, which is the first packaging standard in the world to be recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GSFI) benchmarking committee.
The standard consists of six sections: Senior management commitment; Hazard and risk management system; Product safety and quality management; Site standards; Product and process control; and Personnel.
As a food safety systems standard, it ensures that the necessary systems are in place to enable the production of safe packaging for food that meets the quality levels expected by customers and consumers.
Nader Nabil, General Manager of Huhtamaki Egypt says; “The BRC Certification is in-line with our commitment to provide the highest quality packaging that protects our customers’ brands.
“Our target was to achieve the certification in three months even though it required system implementation, procedures, work flow, documentation, and team training from zero point.
“The auditor also recognized our strong drive to complete the requirements swiftly. Consistency is the way forward. Safeguarding our achievement and continuing to improve is our day-to-day responsibility now.”
The BRC published the latest issue of its Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials on July 1st 2015, which contains requirements that a food package manufacturer should follow to build on an effective food safety management system.
The standard was originally published in 2001 to protect consumers and provide a common auditing and certification standard for food packaging businesses and is applicable to all types of packaging manufacturer including plastic, paper, wood, metal and glass.
With the new facility and certification, Huhtamaki Egypt is poised to manufacture food and drinks packaging and is expected to serve the Egyptian market as well as export market into other African countries as well as Europe.
