What’s the Difference Between SQF and BRC?

SQF vs BRC

SQF Certification and BRC Certification are both GFSI Standards​ SQF (Safe Quality Food) and BRC (British Retail Consortium) are both internationally recognized food safety management systems that aim to provide assurance to customers about the quality and safety of food products. Both SQF and BRC are benchmarked standards of the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).  You need to prepare for and pass a rigorous SQF audit or BRC audit in order to gain certification for either food safety system. Because SQF and BRC are rated as GFSI benchmarked standards any manufacturer with either of these food safety certifications can easily be marketed to any buyer without adding many other food safety requirements to their production. Costco is a slight exception, the Costco audit is a GFSI based audit with their own special addendum. 

FoodReady has SQF consultants and BRC consultants and our food safety software is capable of maintaining documents, logs, HACCP plans, and anything else to help you achieve SQF or BRC certification.

Although SQF certification and BRC certification programs have similar objectives, there are some key differences between them.

Origin and Development: BRC certification is a British-based food safety management system and was first published in 1998. SQF certification, on the other hand, is a global food safety management system and was developed in Australia in the early 1990s.

Scope: BRC is more focused on the requirements of retailers, while SQF is designed to be applicable to a wide range of food industries, including primary production, manufacturing, distribution, and packaging.

Certification: SQF certification is based on an audit of the entire food safety system, while BRCcertification focuses on the audit of critical control points within the system.

Requirements: BRC places more emphasis on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), while SQF requires the implementation of a broader range of food safety programs, including food defense and food fraud prevention.

Standards: BRC has a single standard that applies to all sectors of the food industry, while SQF has different standards for different sectors of the food industry.

Both SQF and BRC aim to provide assurance to customers about the quality and safety of food products. However, the main differences between them lie in their origin, scope, certification process, requirements, and standards.

FoodReady is a food safety software and consulting company. Our software has a HACCP builder, food traceability, you can create your own checklists to manage your HACCP plan or track other items, ingredients, tasks, or events. We also have software features for BRC. With our Enterprise program you will have access to food safety quality assurance consultants who can help you with GFSI, SQF, GMP, SOP, BRC, CGMP, HACCP, USDA, FDA FSMA, gap analysis, or prepare for audits like the Costco audit, the Whole Foods audit, Publix audit, Kroger audit, Safeway audit, Meier audit, HEB audit and more.