The Costco Audit is “basically” GFSI
Wouldn’t it be great to get your food products into Costco? Costco has close to 800 stores and over 200 locations outside the United States. Costco is the third largest retailer in the United States and is still growing! Just think of the income, yikes!
But getting your product into Costco can be difficult. After Costco has decided they are interested in your product, you must pass Costco’s food safety audit . Costco has its own proprietary audit for food manufacturing, packing, warehousing, and food distribution which is based on GFSI benchmarked standards with Costco’s own customization.
How do you prepare for and pass a Costco food safety audit? An easy way would be to use FoodReady certified experienced food safety consultants from industry backgrounds to do an on-site Costco mock-audit of your facility and have FoodReady develop and write your entire Costco program and all the documentation. Use the FoodReady software platform to establish, implement, and maintain your whole Costco food safety program. FoodReady software and our food safety consultants also can help you with SQF, HACCP, GFSI, GMP, gap analysis, mock audits, etc.
Here’s a brief (very, very, brief, because Costco is very, very, thorough, and it would take very, very, long, to explain their process in its entirety) overview of some of the Costco audit requirements on their checklist.
Costco Has its own Audit Process
Having a GMP and an SQF is great, but to get your product into Costco, you need to follow their proprietary audit for food safety.
The Twelve Categories of a Costco Audit
1. Product Changes – whether the product has changed from the facility registration information
2. Facility Information – facility details, facility allergens
3. Management Systems – management policies, organization, written procedures (pertaining to food safety), regulatory requirements, recalls/complaints/crisis management
4. Food Safety Systems – HACCP, product contamination, allergens, food safety training
5. Quality Systems – QA/QC (quality control) program, supplier certification, equipment calibration, good laboratory practices (if there is an on-site laboratory)
6. Grounds, Buildings, Equipment (maintenance, cleanliness), – grounds plant facility, equipment, facility maintenance
7. Pest Control
8. Employee Practices
9. Receiving, Storage and Shipping
10. Processing – raw materials, process controls
11. Sanitation – cleaning and sanitizing systems, cleaning equipment, chemicals, cleaning sanitation, and housekeeping procedures.
12. Food Defense – food defense program, food defense observations
All in all, there are 24 pages of this checklist, each of the twelve categories has numerous sub-categories, and all need to be within Costco’s parameters for your product to get onto their shelves. WOW! How is anyone supposed to pass this? Well, we do have a free 14-day trial of our software, and we do offer consulting services for our enterprise clients.