Our services and quality systems

IFS

IFS is an originally German food safety standard that is applied internationally, in particular by suppliers of retailers of food.

What is IFS?
International Featured Standards (IFS) is an initiative of German retailers and is largely comparable to the BRC standard. The first IFS standards were introduced in 2003. Basically, the standard was set up to guarantee the quality and safety of the private label products of retailers and wholesalers. French and Italian trade and retail organisations later joined this. Just like BRC, IFS has far-reaching food safety requirements and is a market standard. The requirements in the IFS standard are therefore more extensive than what is legally established.

The added value of IFS certification for your company
Just like FSSC 22000 and BRC, IFS is also recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). Retailers sometimes demand that their suppliers obtain an IFS certificate before they can become a supplier. Especially with large German retailers, such as Aldi and Lidl, IFS is preferred over other GFSI recognised certificates.

IFS with Schouten Advies
You can contact Schouten Advies with all your questions about IFS. Our consultants can assist you in obtaining your IFS certification, in drafting and maintaining a quality manual and in conducting internal audits.

IFS trainings, courses and secondment
We also have consultants that are detached at food and feed companies. In addition, we provide training to bring you the knowledge of you, your employees or your colleagues up to date. We provide these courses at our location in Giessen, but we also provide in-company training. You can read more about these training courses here.

We can help
Would you like our advice? We are known for our short lines of communication and will make sure that one of our consultants gets in touch with you quickly.