For export to retailers and large food manufacturers, a spice grinding unit should usually hold a GFSI-recognised certificate such as BRCGS Food Safety or FSSC 22000, on top of its Indian licences. ISO 22000 on its own is a sound food safety management standard, but many buyers do not accept it in place of a GFSI-recognised scheme.
Which one you need depends on your customer. Ask them before you shortlist suppliers. A plant certified to the wrong scheme may need a year or more to change, so this question saves time early.
The main schemes compared
- BRCGS Food Safety: a GFSI-benchmarked standard, widely required by UK retailers and many importers who supply them. Audits are graded, and there is an unannounced audit option.
- FSSC 22000: built on ISO 22000, plus prerequisite programme requirements and additional scheme rules. GFSI-benchmarked and common with multinational manufacturers.
- IFS Food: another GFSI-benchmarked standard, more often requested by buyers in Germany, France and other parts of Europe.
- ISO 22000: an international standard for food safety management systems. It is not GFSI-benchmarked on its own, which is why FSSC 22000 exists.
Indian licences and other certificates
Whatever scheme the plant holds, an exporting spice grinder should also have the Indian basics, plus any certificates your own customers ask for:
- An FSSAI licence covering manufacture at that address. See FSSAI and export.
- A Spices Board CRES registration for the exporting entity. See Spices Board registration.
- An IEC from DGFT for the exporting entity.
- A working HACCP system, whether or not it carries a separate certificate.
- Organic certification for your market, if you buy organic powders.
- Halal or kosher certification, if your customers require it.
- Customer-specific approvals, such as a retailer's own supplier audit.
How to check a certificate is real
- Look the site up in the scheme owner's public directory. BRCGS and FSSC 22000 both publish one.
- Check that the scope covers grinding, blending and packing of spice powders, not only cleaning of whole spices.
- Check the address. A certificate for a sister plant does not cover the unit making your product.
- Check the expiry date and the name of the certification body.
- Ask for the last audit report, or at least its grade and list of non-conformities with the closure evidence.
- Ask whether your product will be made on site or subcontracted. Subcontracted grinding sits outside the certificate.
A certificate is not a test
A certificate shows that a system existed on audit day. It does not test your lot. Pair it with your own audit, as set out in what a factory audit should contain, and with independent testing.
How we help
We verify certificates against the scheme directories, confirm that the scope matches your product, and audit the plant ourselves. To shortlist certified grinding units, start with a free sourcing review.