Inspired Pet Nutrition’s wet pet food facility at its IPN Kinmel manufacturing site has achieved ‘Grade A’ accreditation from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
According to the manufacturer, the entire process was completed in under four months and was done without the need for a pre-audit.
The accreditation means that the North Wales site is now compliant with BRC’s Global Standards, which are used by more than 25,000 certificated suppliers in over 130 countries worldwide. In addition, the BRC accreditation means that the site now meets the standards required by the Global Food Safety Initiative.
The site achieved BRC accreditation for its dry pet food production two years ago, and now both the bakery and the wet site have Grade A status.
The manufacturer said the latest accreditation is a “further boost” for IPN’s Harringtons FreshCook wet dog food range.
It comes as its workforce has grown to around 75 employees after the addition of a third wet filling shift and second packing shift. IPN Kinmel is also “keen to explore” other wet food co-manufacturing projects for third parties.
Managing director James Lawson said: “We pride ourselves as having one of the most efficient human grade quality wet food kitchens in the industry and as our easy-peel tray and FreshCook process is proving so successful , we feel it is the right time to offer our services to other retailers and brands around the globe.
He added that sales of its wet pet food products are up 50% compared with this time last year.
The audit process included all stages of the manufacturing process, including the intake of raw materials, wet food processing, packing, quality assurance, food safety compliance and traceability systems.
Dominic Whelan, site operations manager, said: “To receive Grade A status in such a short time is a huge endorsement of the top quality production facilities and processes at IPN Kinmel and just reward for the hard work put in by the team.
“The certification also gives us an internationally recognised mark of food quality, safety and responsibility and opens further up co-manufacturing opportunities with pet food companies both in the UK and abroad.”
