BRCGS Packaging Materials Grade A Compliance Guide

The BRC Global Standard for Packaging Materials (BRCGS Packaging) is the most widely-recognised audit standard for food-contact packaging supplied to retail and foodservice markets. Operating to BRCGS, and at Grade A specifically, is a baseline requirement for procurement teams supplying major retailers, QSR chains, and hotel groups in the U.S., EU, UK, and beyond.

What BRCGS Packaging actually covers

BRCGS Packaging is a manufacturing-facility standard. It audits the conditions under which packaging is produced, not the product specification. The current Issue 7 (published October 2024, with all audits conducted against it from 28 April 2025) notably expanded certification eligibility to single-use disposable foodservice products such as compostable tableware. It covers eight core requirement areas:

1. Senior management commitment: leadership accountability for product safety and quality
2. Hazard and risk management: HACCP-style hazard analysis applied to packaging
3. Product safety and quality management: documented systems, controls, traceability
4. Site standards: building condition, equipment, layout, hygiene
5. Product control: design, development, supplier approval, foreign-body management
6. Process control: operational controls, calibration, in-process inspection
7. Personnel: training, hygiene, protective clothing
8. High-care production zones: controls for higher-risk packaging

What Grade A means specifically

BRCGS audits result in a grade ranging from AA (highest, no non-conformities) through A, B, C, and D, with + suffixes for unannounced audits. Grade A indicates the facility passed an A-grade audit conducted on an unannounced basis: auditors arrive without warning.

For procurement teams, Grade A matters for two reasons:

• It removes facility risk: An unannounced A grade means standards hold up day-to-day, not just on audit-prep days.
• It signals operational maturity: Unannounced audits are higher risk for the supplier; only confident operators opt in.

Who BRCGS Grade A applies to

BRCGS Packaging certification is required (or strongly preferred) for:

• Major UK retailers (Tesco, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Waitrose, Morrisons): typically mandatory
• EU retailers operating private-label foodservice packaging programmes
• QSR chains with global sourcing programmes
• Hospitality groups with corporate ESG commitments
• Foodservice distributors aggregating packaging for retail or foodservice

What auditors check during a BRCGS audit

A typical BRCGS Packaging audit involves a 2-3 day on-site visit covering:

• Documentation review (procedures, records, traceability tests)
• Site walk-through (cleanliness, layout, equipment condition, pest control)
• Process observation (production runs, in-process inspection, packaging line)
• Personnel interviews (operators, supervisors, technical team)
• Random product traceability test (auditor picks a finished SKU and traces it back to raw material lot)
• HACCP plan review and verification

What documentation buyers should request

When evaluating a BRCGS-certified supplier, request the following:

1. Current BRCGS certificate with grade, audit date, and expiry
2. Audit report summary (suppliers typically share the executive summary; full reports are confidential)
3. Scope of certification: which products and production lines are covered
4. Most recent surveillance audit results
5. Corrective action records for any non-conformities raised in the previous audit

Common BRCGS gaps to watch for

Even certified suppliers can have gaps that matter for specific buyer requirements:

• Scope mismatches: A facility may be certified for one product category but not the SKUs you’re buying. Always check scope.
• Expired certificates: BRCGS certificates expire annually. Confirm current status before PO.
• Lower grades: A B-grade BRCGS facility is still certified but signals areas of weakness. Evaluate whether the gaps matter for your application.
• Self-declaration vs unannounced: Standard A grade can be from announced audits. A+ is the unannounced equivalent, meaningfully different for risk management.

Ecofy’s BRCGS Grade A status

Ecofy operates its 150,000 sq ft Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) facility to BRCGS Packaging Materials Grade A standard, covering its full range of BRCGS Grade A certified bagasse plates, molded fiber bowls, compostable meal trays, and bagasse clamshell containers. The facility was designed from the ground up around BRCGS requirements rather than retrofitted to meet them, which materially simplifies audit-readiness.

Buyers can request our current BRCGS certificate, audit summary, and scope documentation as part of standard supplier evaluation. We also welcome buyer-conducted facility audits in addition to the third-party BRCGS audits; most of our major customers have visited the plant at least once.