If you sell to a supermarket chain, you have probably been asked for an IFS certificate. What exactly is it, and what lies behind it?

What is the IFS certificate

IFS (International Featured Standards) is a set of food safety standards. It was created on the initiative of German and French retailers to have a single set of criteria for assessing their suppliers.

The best known is IFS Food, designed for companies that process or pack food. It is recognised by the GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative), which makes it easier for chains in different countries to accept it.

What an IFS audit assesses

The audit is carried out by an independent certification body. Among other things, it reviews:

  • The quality and food safety management system.
  • Hazard analysis (HACCP).
  • Product traceability.
  • Premises, hygiene and pest control.
  • How incidents and recalls are handled.

Why it matters for the supply chain

For retailers, the IFS certificate is a baseline guarantee: the supplier has passed an audit against common criteria. For suppliers, it avoids repeating different audits for every customer.

But the certificate expires and has to be renewed. That is why it pays to keep track of it alongside the rest of each supplier’s documents. It is part of what we cover at Food Experts with supplier approval.

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