Food safety · good manufacturing practice with HACCP
HACCP and GMP consulting: the prerequisites and the plan, built together.
Good manufacturing practice is the foundation every food business needs; HACCP is the plan that controls the hazards that remain. Sterling builds both together, from premises, hygiene and pest control to hazard analysis and critical control points, so your records show one food safety system.
- Prerequisite programmes and the HACCP plan on one set of records
- One engagement team, one Effivity workspace and one all-inclusive proposal
- The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements. Sterling does not certify; an accredited body audits and decides
- Hygiene that holds up to inspectionWritten prerequisite programmes with records your supervisors keep every day.
- Hazards under controlCritical control points with limits, monitoring and corrective actions that work on the line.
- Traceability testedA mock recall proves you can trace ingredients and products both ways.
- A base for GFSI schemesThe same foundations support ISO 22000, FSSC 22000 or BRCGS when buyers ask.
Standards in this programme
Good manufacturing practice first, then the HACCP plan.
HACCP does not stand alone: the Codex Alimentarius General Principles of Food Hygiene place good hygiene practices first, with HACCP controlling the significant hazards that remain. GMP covers premises, equipment, cleaning, pest control, personal hygiene, water, maintenance, allergen control, supplier approval and traceability.
Certification for HACCP and GMP is offered by certification bodies under different schemes and accreditations by country. We check what your buyers and regulators accept before the plan is fixed.
The engagement, step by step
Prerequisite programmes first, then the HACCP plan, on one set of records.
Every Sterling engagement runs on Sterling OS™: five stages, each with deliverables, decision owners and a weekly working session with your engagement team. Integration work sits under Revise™, the part of Sterling OS™ for new standard integration and multi-standard integrated management systems, delivered at the Design™ or the Drive™ level of support.
- 01
Scope and gap analysis
At the startWhat happens
We confirm the products, processes, sites and the scheme or certificate your buyers ask for, then walk the site and review current practices, records and any existing certificates against HACCP and GMP.
You receive
- Agreed scope: products, lines and sites
- Gap analysis against each standard in scope
- Implementation plan with owners and a target audit window
Your side
A food safety team leader with authority over production, quality and maintenance.
- 02
Prerequisite programmes
Early in the programmeWhat happens
The good hygiene and good manufacturing practices every food business needs are put in place and written down: premises and equipment, cleaning and sanitation, pest control, personal hygiene, water, waste, maintenance, allergen control, supplier approval, traceability and recall.
You receive
- Prerequisite programme procedures and records
- Cleaning, pest control and maintenance schedules
- Hygiene and GMP awareness e-learning for your people
Your side
Supervisors running the routines and keeping the records day to day.
- 03
The HACCP plan
AlongsideWhat happens
A multidisciplinary team draws the process flow for each product, analyses biological, chemical, physical and allergen hazards, and decides which are controlled by prerequisite programmes and which need critical control points with critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification and records.
You receive
- HACCP plan: hazard analysis, critical control points, limits, monitoring and corrective actions
- Verification and validation records
- Effivity configured for records, audits and actions
Your side
The food safety team analysing each process step with Sterling.
- 04
Internal audit and management review
Before the certification auditWhat happens
One internal audit covers prerequisites, the HACCP plan, followed by a management review and a mock recall to test traceability.
You receive
- Internal audit report and closed corrective actions
- Mock recall record
- Management review record
Your side
Management reviewing the results and agreeing improvements.
- 05
Certification audit
When readyWhat happens
An independent certification body audits the system and decides. Accreditation for HACCP and GMP certification differs by country and body, so we check what the body is accredited for, and whether your buyers ask instead for a GFSI-recognised scheme such as FSSC 22000 or BRCGS, before you sign.
You receive
- Certification bodies compared and their accreditation checked
- Support through the audit until the certificate is issued
Your side
Production running normally on the audit days, with records to hand.
Who does what
Choose how much of the work Sterling carries.
Design™ gives your team the structure, templates, workshops and coaching to integrate the systems itself. Drive™ has Sterling consultants carry the integration work with your system owners. They are alternatives, not phases: the software, the training, the accountability and the all-inclusive proposal work the same way in both.
| Task | Design™ guided | Drive™ fully managed |
|---|---|---|
| Scope, integration map and plan | Sterling with your system owners | Sterling with your system owners |
| Common core: policy, risk method, document control | Together your team drafts on Sterling's templates, Sterling reviews | Sterling with your managers |
| Merging existing procedures and records | Your team coached in the weekly session | Sterling consolidated from your current systems |
| Hazard analysis and HACCP plan | Your team coached discipline by discipline | Sterling populated with your data |
| Effivity configuration and data migration | Sterling one workspace for every standard | Sterling one workspace for every standard |
| Putting the combined controls into daily use | Your team with guidance in the weekly session | Your team Sterling checks the evidence |
| Integrated internal audit | Together your trained auditors, Sterling facilitates | Sterling conducted for you across every standard |
| Management review | Your management Sterling prepares the inputs | Your management Sterling prepares and facilitates |
| Certification decision for each standard | The independent, accredited certification body never Sterling | |
Which model suits you? Where a quality, HSE or IT lead can give the integration some hours each week, Design™ is the usual choice. Where several mature systems must be merged against a deadline, or nobody has that time, Drive™ is. The discovery call settles it.
What you receive
Everything the programme needs. Nothing charged separately.
- Gap analysis reportCurrent practices and records against HACCP and GMP, each gap given an owner and a date.
- Prerequisite programmesWritten procedures, schedules and record forms for hygiene, cleaning, pest control, maintenance, allergens, suppliers and traceability.
- HACCP planProcess flow diagrams, hazard analysis, critical control points, critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions, verification and records.
- Effivity workspace, configuredRecords, audits, actions and training in one place, included at no additional cost.
- Trained peopleFood hygiene and HACCP awareness e-learning for everyone, and internal auditor training for your audit team, with Certificates of Completion.
- Internal audit, mock recall and reviewOne internal audit, a traceability test and a management review record before the certification audit.
- Certification readinessBodies compared and their accreditation checked, and support until the certificate is issued.
- The Sustain™ calendarA year-ahead plan for surveillance audits, verification, internal audits and refresher training.
Effivity · included with the engagement
Your system runs in software from the first workshop.
Effivity is the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries. Your consultant configures it within the agreed scope, so evidence accumulates as people do their work and the certification auditor reviews a live system rather than a binder. Sterling consulting clients get their subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost.
ISO & GRC softwareSterling Academy · included with the engagement
Your people learn the standard, not just the forms.
E-learning with practice checkpoints, a final exam and a numbered Certificate of Completion for each learner, verifiable online, with progress by department for the certification audit. Sterling consulting clients get preferential course access and special pricing, including complimentary awareness training for their people as part of the engagement.
Contact us about Academy accessHow we price
One all-inclusive proposal. Every component visible. No surprises, ever.
The investment in an integrated system depends on which standards are in scope, which are already implemented or certified, how far your existing systems overlap, the sites, the headcount and the current maturity of your processes. That is why every Sterling proposal is built for your organisation rather than read from a price list. The way the proposal works stays the same.
- One all-inclusive proposal for Sterling's work, software and learning. Consulting, Effivity and Sterling Academy access in one figure; the fee does not move when the work takes longer than we planned.
- Certification-body fees identified separately. The body's audit days, travel and surveillance arrangements are shown as their own line, so the full programme cost is comparable across proposals.
- Payment milestones tied to deliverables, not to the calendar: the gap analysis report, the documented system, the internal audit, the certificate.
- Deliverables, responsibilities, assumptions and exclusions in writing, and nothing to sign to receive the proposal.
To prepare your proposal we need
- The standards in scope, and which of them you already hold certificates for
- The certification bodies and audit dates of any current certificates
- The activities and sites to be covered
- Approximate headcount
- Your deadline, or the customer or tender date behind it
That is enough for a scoped, all-inclusive proposal from a Sterling consultant in your region. There is no need to prepare a manual first.
Request a scoped proposalA Sterling consultant replies within one working day.
Don’t be fooled by certification scams
Sterling against the alternatives.
The market offers four ways to a certificate. Three of them leave you with a system that does not run, a certificate that fails a customer's check, or both. This is what each route actually gives you.
| What you get | Template kit, do it yourself | "Certified in 10 days" seller | Body-shopping consultant | Sterling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A system built around your operation | Only if your team has the time and the expertise | No: a template with your name on it | Depends on the individual assigned | Yes, with your process owners, on Sterling's template sets |
| Your people trained | Not included | Not included | Sometimes, at extra cost | Included: awareness, practitioner and internal auditor training |
| Software to run the system | Paid for separately | None | Paid for separately | Effivity, included at no additional cost |
| Internal audit and management review before the audit | If you know how | A formality, if at all | Usually | Always, with findings closed on evidence |
| Certificate from an accredited body | Your choice | Often not accredited, or not for your scope | Usually | Always: accreditation checked before you sign |
| Who is accountable if the audit goes badly | You | Nobody | The individual, if still available | Sterling, under the Sterling Promise, until you are certified |
| Fee transparency | Kit price only | One invoice for consulting and certificate | Day rates, open-ended | One all-inclusive proposal; certification-body fees shown separately |
| After the certificate | On your own | Gone | Another contract | Sustain™: surveillance, internal audits, refreshers, transitions |
Sterling's position. Sterling does not certify. We consult, train and prepare you; an independent, accredited body audits and decides. We do not sell certificates without implementation, and we tell you when an offer you have received is one. All ten warning signs of shortcut certification · How to check any ISO certificate
Client experience
On the record: what clients say about working with Sterling.
The quality control manager at Philippine Bottling and Beverage Manufacturing Corporation describes Sterling's review of the company's hazard analysis and critical control points as detailed and grounded in its actual processing flow. The team also helped the company strengthen its monitoring records and the decisions it takes on corrective action.
The production manager writes that Sterling's workshops helped the company's production staff understand why each control matters, rather than only which forms to complete. The company's HACCP plan, the manager adds, is now clearer, more consistent and easier to maintain.
The general manager of M.O.'s Food Product writes that, throughout its HACCP work, Sterling's team showed professionalism, attention to detail and a deep understanding of food safety regulations and requirements. Timely answers to its questions, a meticulous review of its procedures and comprehensive training sessions, the manager adds, have set the company on the path to excellence in food safety management.
Bel Mondo Italia's plant manager notes that Sterling's consultants worked with a cross-functional team spanning plant operations, quality assurance, sales and distribution, and that templates suited to a production operation made adoption far smoother for staff on the ground. Gap analysis, documentation, training and audit preparation each had clear structure and follow-through. The company achieved HACCP and ISO 9001:2015 certification, strengthened its processes and gained a credential that supports its international expansion, and recommends Sterling to organisations with export-driven requirements.
Each account is drawn from a signed letter or e-mail on file and reported in our words, with the signatory's role and organisation attached; the original letters are available on request. Ask for references in your sector before you decide.
- 60+countries where Sterling has delivered certification
- 21countries with a Sterling office, eight regions, one coordinated team
- 2003the year the group began implementing ISO management systems; the same method, refined, since
- 8,100+client engagements across the group, from single-site SMEs to multinationals
FAQs
Questions clients ask about HACCP + GMP.
The answers for your own scope come from the discovery call. These are the questions most programmes begin with.
What is the difference between GMP and HACCP?
GMP covers the general hygiene and manufacturing conditions that apply to every product, such as premises, cleaning, pest control and personal hygiene. HACCP analyses the hazards of each product and process and controls the significant ones at critical control points. GMP comes first; HACCP builds on it.
Is HACCP and GMP certification accredited?
It varies by country and certification body. We check what the body holds accreditation for, and whether your buyers accept it, before you sign.
Our buyers ask for a GFSI scheme. Where does that leave HACCP and GMP?
GFSI-recognised schemes such as FSSC 22000 and BRCGS Food Safety include prerequisite programmes and HACCP, then add their own requirements. Building GMP and HACCP well is the first step to any of them.
How long does the programme take?
It depends on the frameworks in scope, which you already hold, the systems and sites, and for a SOC 2 Type 2 report the length of the period your customers expect. The discovery call gives you a dated plan for your scope; there is no fixed number we can reliably promise in advance.
Keep exploring
Other integrated programmes
Watch a video on implementing HACCP and GMP together here.
Programmes clients combine most often
Talk to a consultant
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