Wholesale food suppliers Brisbane can have a big impact on your restaurant or food business and the products you sell. With this in mind, it makes a lot of business sense to ensure that they are doing everything within their roles to ensure you receive the best products. Read on to find out what you need to ask your suppliers to ensure that your product is safe and your food business is not at risk.
Understanding the food supply program
Using approved food suppliers is an essential component of safe food production. Knowing as much information as you can is also important. The more information you know, the more informed your decision will be when choosing and approving food suppliers. It is suggested that you ask the following questions to ensure you are getting the most from your food supplier.
Do you have any legal or food regulatory breaches?
It is important to know about your food supplier’s compliance to provide you with an excellent insight into not just their food safety business practices but also their ethos. If they ignore this question, it means they have something to hide. You can check the government databases for warning letters, prosecution notices and databases for food recalls.
Do you have suitable safety controls in place?
While this question might seem like a no-brainer, it is still good to ask. You can be more specific and ask your supplier for information on their heating temperatures and CCPs. You need to do some research on the expected food safety measures for each of the materials you get into your facility. Compare the two to determine the risk of raw materials.
Do you have a third-party certification system?
Before working with your wholesale food suppliers, it is essential to ask this question. If your supplier is certified to the appropriate certification standard, you can be guaranteed that there is a high level of food safety compliance. It is suggested that when you have a copy of their certification, you double-check that the certification matches the products they are selling.
Where do your products come from?
You should know the origin of the products if you are completing a supplier and raw material risk assessment. This information gives you insights into the potential for fraud and chemical, microbiological, physical and allergenic contamination.
Are you the primary manufacturer?
You should ask this question to understand whether you are buying directly from the manufacturer or through a broker. The more complex the food supply chain is, the more chance there will be things going wrong and the more money you will be required to pay. This information is useful when mapping the traceability system.
What are your minimum orders?
If you are new to the food industry business, it is important to ask your wholesale food suppliers Brisbane whether they have a minimum order and if yes, then it is important to know their minimum order. You do not want to be forced to buy more food products than you can sell.
