Quality - All Coles Brand Food Suppliers

This page contains the Coles requirements that all suppliers of Coles Brand foods must comply with.

It is the suppliers’ responsibility to communicate the Coles Brands standards through their supply chain to ensure compliance. This page does not and is not intended to set out all the legal requirements suppliers must comply with. We recommend suppliers need to obtain their own advice on their legal obligations.

Audits

Coles currently operates certification schemes against a number of different standards, depending on the product category supplied

• All Suppliers of Coles Brand Fresh Products*, all new Coles Brand Suppliers, or Existing Coles Brand Suppliers with a Change of Scope

  All Suppliers of Coles Brand Fresh Products*, all new Coles Brand Suppliers, or Existing Coles Brand Suppliers with a Change of Scope (where new product or packaging types are introduced) are required to be audited against the Coles Food Manufacturing Supplier Requirements (CFMSR). The CFMSR is Coles own set of requirements, and is audited by Coles representatives. The requirements clearly set out Coles expectations and industry best practice to produce safe, legal, and compliant products on behalf of Coles. Suppliers required to be certified against CFMSR will be contacted directly by their Coles Product Technologist

   

  *NOTE: ‘Fresh Products’ includes fish, poultry, meat, dairy, bakery and ‘value added’ fresh produce.



• Existing Coles Brand Suppliers with No Change in Scope.

  Existing Australian and New Zealand suppliers of Coles Brand food products in the fresh produce, frozen or grocery categories that have not changed their product types or packaging technologies will need to demonstrate a 2 part compliance:

  • Part 1: 3rd Party External Certification

    Coles Brand Suppliers may choose a 3rd Party Certification Standard from those preferred by Coles below. Two different external industry standards have been selected in order to cover the range of supplier types:

    • SQF Code
    
    
    • The BRC Global Standard for Food

      
      Since Coles Brand Suppliers may have a choice of external standard, the Food Standards Matrix – Manufactured Products may assist in making a choice of preferred 3rd Party Standard:

      Suppliers of Coles Brand food products who are located in Australia and New Zealand must ensure that they are using a Coles approved Certification Body, and that the auditor is certified under the Coles Auditor Scheme.

  • Part 2: Coles’ Additional Requirements of supply

    In addition to the audit against the external standard, Coles Brand Suppliers must ensure that they are compliant to the additional elements as outlined in the Coles Supplier Requirements (CSR). These requirements are designed to enhance our brand protection program and address known issues/areas of customer concern.



• Existing International Coles Brand Suppliers

  International Coles Brand Suppliers that are currently supplying Coles, and their product is not high risk, and does not incorporate claims (e.g. allergen free) are required to be BRC-Food or SQF Code certified. Audits may be conducted by any Coles Approved International Certification Body registered with the BRC or the SQFI.

   

  International suppliers that are currently supplying Coles, and/or their product is high risk, or incorporates claims (e.g. allergen free), Coles will be transitioning those suppliers to compliance with the Coles Food Manufacturing Supplier Requirements (CFMSR)

Chemical and Microbiological Testing Standard

The Coles Testing Standards have been designed to manage food safety and quality risks for Coles Brand, and now include a minimum testing frequency. They align with national standards such as the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, testing guidelines published by state regulators such as the NSW Food Authority and Dairy Food Safety Victoria, as well as international guidelines including Codex and the Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST). Overall these testing standards help to ensure the continued delivery of industry good practice in accordance with Coles Brand Supplier requirements.

For convenience, the Testing Standards have been preloaded into Coles Fusion according to product type.

The Testing Standards will come into effect on 7 November 2016 following a six month transition period. Therefore, to ensure supplier testing standards are compliant, we ask that suppliers undertake an evaluation during this transition period and make any required changes prior to 7 November 2016.

Whilst we believe most suppliers’ existing testing procedures already meet the Coles Testing Standards and testing frequencies, if there are any additional testing costs incurred to achieve compliance, these will need to be borne by the supplier as part of the supplier’s ongoing food safety and quality program.