Insights

Analysis, guides and standards timelines for exporting manufacturers: GFSI, ISO, HACCP, training, ESG and audits.

Firm, sectors and regionsNovember 5, 2026Choosing a Food Safety or Quality Consultant in Africa: 10 CriteriaTo choose a quality or food safety consultancy in Morocco or elsewhere in Africa, compare evidence, not promises. Listings in official directories, practising auditors, the firm’s own certification, sector references, a written method and independence from the certification body are criteria you can check before you sign.
Firm, sectors and regionsNovember 5, 2026Non-Accredited Certificate Rejected: An Exporter Case StudyThis composite case study follows a Moroccan frozen vegetable exporter whose British buyer rejected its certificate: a standard the GFSI does not recognise, an issuing entity with no accreditation, which had also sold the consultancy. It shows why the rejection was justified, how the company rebuilt its route to certification and what it changed.
Audits and inspectionsNovember 5, 2026Preparing for an Outsourced Internal Audit: The Site’s MethodAn internal audit assigned to an external auditor is prepared in four stages: written scoping, documents sent in advance, interviews and a floor walk organised during production, then handling of findings until effectiveness is proven. The site is not staging a show: it is giving the auditor the means to see the real work.
Audits and inspectionsNovember 5, 2026Outsourced Internal Audit Cost vs In-House Internal AuditorsThe cost of an internal audit programme depends less on who the auditor is than on the audit volume your standards, sites and risks impose. With in-house auditors, you pay mainly in time and training; with an external auditor, in billed days. The right calculation compares both, hidden costs and independence included.
Audits and inspectionsNovember 5, 2026Combined QHSE and Food Safety Internal Audit: A Three-Plant CaseA Moroccan food group with three sites was running four internal audit programmes: one for its QHSE system and one per food safety scheme. Workshops were audited several times a year, some requirements never. The answer: one combined programme per site, partly assigned to an external auditor, with the internal team working alongside in pairs.
Audits and inspectionsNovember 5, 2026Food Outsourcing Requirements 2026–2027: What Is ChangingIn 2026–2027, the outsourcing clauses of BRCGS, IFS and FSSC 22000 are not rewritten, but what surrounds them changes. FSSC 22000 Version 7, published in May 2026, extends control of printed labels and laboratory testing; the 2026 BRCGS position statements leave clause 3.5.4 untouched; the April 2026 IFS doctrine clarifies the audit report.
Audits and inspectionsNovember 5, 2026Co-Packer Audit: How to Prepare and Conduct It, Step by StepA co-packer audit is prepared in five stages: a written objective and contract, a questionnaire sent to the site, a remote document review, an on-site day timed to the production of your product, then a full report followed through to closure of every finding. Here is the method step by step, and the checklist so nothing is missed.
Audits and inspectionsNovember 5, 2026Second-Party Food Audit: Auditing Co-Packers and SubcontractorsA second-party food audit is a brand owner auditing the co-packer or subcontractor that makes its product. BRCGS Food Safety Issue 9, IFS Food Version 8 and FSSC 22000 Version 7 all require control of outsourced processes: a certificate that covers the activity entrusted, or an audit by a competent auditor, under a written contract.
Audits and inspectionsNovember 5, 2026Subcontractor Audit Cost: What Drives a Co-Packer Audit ProgrammeThe cost of a subcontractor audit programme depends on five choices: how many co-packers and products to audit, at what level of risk, what role the certificate plays, on site or remote, and which auditor. The day rate comes after. And a report that your certification body or your customer rejects gets paid for twice.
Audits and inspectionsNovember 5, 2026Prepare for a Supplier Audit: Factory Checklist for a Buyer’s VisitPreparing for a supplier audit means preparing the proof that the buyer’s specification is applied on the line that makes its product. Get the objective and checklist in writing, gather documents a month ahead, run the product on the day, test traceability on a real batch and answer findings with root causes.
Audits and inspectionsNovember 5, 2026Supplier Audit in Morocco: How EU and UK Buyers Qualify SuppliersA supplier audit is a second-party audit: a buyer, or an auditor acting for that buyer, checks that a site can deliver safe, compliant product on time. EU and UK buyers sourcing from Morocco and Africa usually combine it with a GFSI certificate, because the audit covers what the certificate does not.
Audits and inspectionsNovember 5, 2026Supplier Audit Programme Cost: What Drives Budget and DurationThe cost of a supplier audit programme depends less on the day rate than on four choices made by the buyer: how many suppliers to audit, how often according to their risk, on site or remotely, and with what follow-up. Without those answers no serious estimate is possible; with them, the budget is built supplier by supplier.
Audits and inspectionsNovember 5, 2026Supplier Qualification in Morocco: An EU Importer Case StudyTypical case: an EU-based importer approves two Moroccan fish canneries and a cherry tomato packhouse. Three valid certificates, three gaps revealed by the audits and the document review: incomplete histamine control upstream, failed line clearance between two brands, and a GLOBALG.A.P. edition that did not meet the end customer’s requirement.
ESG, CSR and PPWRNovember 5, 2026CGEM CSR Label Case Study: An Exporting SME and ESG QuestionnairesCase study: an exporting frozen food SME in Morocco’s Gharb region, certified to IFS Food, receives three ESG requests from European customers in six months. Rather than answering them one by one, its management prepares the CGEM CSR label: a single evidence base, gaps corrected and an action plan assessed by a third party.
ESG, CSR and PPWRNovember 5, 2026PPWR Compliance Cost: What Drives the Budget for ExportersThe cost of PPWR compliance for a Moroccan exporter does not depend on a price list but on four factors: its role for each packaging item, the number of references and materials, the volume of testing and documentation, and the scale of packaging redesign by 2028 and 2030. Good sequencing above all avoids paying twice.
Training and OFPPTNovember 5, 2026First ISO 9001 Internal Audit: A Step-by-Step Method After TrainingThe first internal audit after training is prepared in five steps: a programme that sets priorities, an audit plan sent to the auditee, a checklist specific to the process, findings written with their evidence, then follow-up that verifies the effectiveness of actions. Here is the method, with templates and the mistakes to avoid.
Training and OFPPTNovember 5, 2026HACCP Training in Morocco: Which Level for Which Role?Effective HACCP training does not treat everyone the same way. An operator must apply good practice and react to a deviation; a supervisor must monitor and correct; the HACCP team must analyse hazards and validate control measures. ACG organises these needs into three levels, each linked to specific roles on the site.
HACCP and food safetyNovember 5, 2026Food Fraud Vulnerability Assessment in 7 Steps: Method and ChecklistA food fraud vulnerability assessment takes seven steps: a team and a written method, the list of raw materials, packaging and outsourced processes, horizon scanning, scoring against criteria, ranking, the mitigation plan and the review. The standards impose no scoring grid: they require the one you use to be written, applied and reviewed.
HACCP and food safetyNovember 5, 2026Food Defence Programme Cost, Food Fraud Included: Time and ResourcesA food defence and food fraud programme costs internal time first: a multidisciplinary team’s time for the two assessments, their annual review and training. Recurring authenticity testing comes on top and, only where the threat assessment justifies them, physical measures. The number of materials and suppliers makes the real difference.
HACCP and food safetyNovember 5, 2026Spice Exporter Food Fraud Case Study: From Morocco to a UK BuyerCase study: a spice exporter in the Casablanca region, certified to IFS Food Version 8, must send a British importer its food fraud vulnerability assessment and mitigation plan. What made the difference: a complete scope, written criteria, ground spices assessed separately from whole ones, and batch-by-batch evidence of origin.
HACCP and food safetyNovember 5, 2026Food Safety Culture Requirements: What Changes in 2026-2027Between 2024 and 2027, food safety culture requirements are converging. In 2024 the GFSI added a demonstrable commitment from all personnel and a culture assessment plan. IFS clarified its definition in April 2026, FSSC 22000 Version 7 requires sufficient resources, and BRCGS remains at Issue 9.
HACCP and food safetyNovember 5, 2026How to Measure Food Safety Culture: Survey, Interviews and PlanMeasuring food safety culture means combining four sources: an anonymous survey built on the five GFSI dimensions, interviews, shop-floor observations and existing indicators. No standard imposes a tool. The measurement is only worth something if it leads to a few dated actions, reviewed by senior management.
HACCP and food safetyNovember 5, 2026Food Safety Culture: A Practical Guide for Food Plants in MoroccoFood safety culture is the set of beliefs, behaviours, values and assumptions shared by all staff that shapes a plant’s food safety performance. BRCGS, IFS Food and FSSC 22000 require it in the form of objectives, a measured plan and a management review. Auditors check it mostly on the shop floor.
HACCP and food safetyNovember 5, 2026Food Safety Culture Programme Cost: Time, Resources, FundingA food safety culture programme costs time above all: the time of senior management, supervisors and operators, far more than tools. How much depends on headcount, shifts, languages, seasonal workers and the starting level. FSSC 22000 Version 7 and IFS require sufficient resources: budget for them and keep the evidence.