CLEAN joins the BRCGS Partner Connection Programme

Posted on Jan 22, 2024

Fraser Borthwick, the Chief Customer Officer at CLEAN, expressed his excitement about the partnership, saying, "We're delighted to partner with BRCGS to provide its UK members access to our laundry services. The programme allows us to connect with like-minded organisations that create the highest quality products and processes for food safety. We are in good company as our colleagues at Alsco Uniforms Italia are programme members also."

The BRCGS (formerly British Retail Consortium Global Standards) is the world's most extensive food safety programme, comprising globally recognised standards for food safety, consumer products, and packaging. Established to ensure consistency and quality in the supply chain, BRCGS provides a framework for manufacturers, retailers, and food service organisations to meet stringent safety and operational criteria.

Ensuring employee uniforms are effectively and hygienically laundered is an essential component of the BRCGS Food Safety Standard, which encompasses several vital areas, including product safety, traceability, HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point), quality management systems, food fraud prevention, and food safety culture. All staff working in food production must wear clean and appropriate clothes when handling food. Their everyday clothes can bring dirt and bacteria into food-handling areas. The work clothes provided to its workers by a food manufacturer should be appropriate for staff duties and protect food from contamination by minimising skin coming into contact with food and preventing hair or other foreign bodies from entering the food produced. Ideally, they should be light-coloured, as they show dirt clearly, with no external pockets to contents of pockets (which can carry bacteria) getting into food. Food producers primarily outsource the provision of workwear to professional laundry companies like CLEAN, who can ensure that they comply with the BRCGS Food Safety Standard.

The BRCGS Partner Connection Programme is a collaborative initiative to strengthen the global supply chain by forming strategic alliances with organisations committed to product safety and quality standards. Through these partnerships, BRCGS works to enhance industry knowledge, provide technical training, and promote the adoption of best practices. This network of reliable partners contributes to improving safety and compliance standards in sectors such as food, packaging, and consumer products.

CLEAN's partnership with the BRCGS Partner Connection Programme is a testament to its commitment to providing best-in-class laundry services to its customers while ensuring that they comply with the BRCGS Food Safety Standard.