SALSA vs BRCGS: Which Certification Does Your Food Business Need?

Two standards, two very different fits

If you've started looking into food safety certification, you've almost certainly come across both SALSA and BRCGS. They're often mentioned in the same breath, which leads small producers to assume they're alternatives offering roughly the same thing at different prices. They're not. They're built for different businesses, demanded by different buyers, and run on a different scale entirely.

Choosing the wrong one wastes money and effort. Here's how to work out which your business actually needs.

What SALSA is

SALSA (Safe and Local Supplier Approval) is a food safety certification scheme designed specifically for small and micro food and drink producers. It's a non-profit joint venture between the Food and Drink Federation, the NFU, and UK Hospitality, and it's accredited by the Institute of Food Science and Technology.

The whole scheme is built around the reality of a small producer: limited staff, limited budget, and systems that are proportionate to the scale of the operation. The current standard is Issue 6, and it covers HACCP, allergen management, food labelling, traceability, and the other core areas a buyer needs assurance on, without the weight of a standard written for large manufacturing sites.

SALSA approval is recognised by major UK buyers including Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Asda, Ocado, and a range of foodservice and public sector organisations, who use the SALSA directory to find local and regional suppliers.

What BRCGS is

BRCGS (formerly BRC) Global Standard for Food Safety is a different animal. It's the dominant standard for UK retail at scale, currently on Issue 9, benchmarked by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), and used by tens of thousands of sites across more than 130 countries.

For the major multiple retailers, particularly for own-brand and higher-risk products, BRCGS is effectively the price of entry. If you want to supply Tesco, M&S, Morrisons, or the larger grocery multiples with own-label product, you will very likely be required to hold BRCGS certification.

But BRCGS is demanding. It assesses senior management commitment, food safety culture, detailed site standards, and a comprehensive management system. It assumes a level of resource, documentation, and infrastructure that a business of one to twenty-five people often simply doesn't have yet.

The honest comparison

The clearest way to think about it is by where your business is and where you're trying to sell.

1. Scale. SALSA is designed for small and micro producers. BRCGS is designed for established manufacturing operations, though smaller sites do achieve it.
2. Cost. SALSA is significantly more affordable, both for membership and audit. BRCGS carries higher audit costs and usually requires more investment in systems and sometimes in the premises themselves.
3. Effort. SALSA is achievable for a small team with good systems. BRCGS typically requires dedicated technical resource to prepare for and maintain.
4. Recognition. SALSA opens doors to many quality-focused retailers, foodservice, and public sector buyers. BRCGS is required by the major multiples for own-brand and is recognised internationally.
5. Audit frequency. Both involve regular auditing; BRCGS sits within a more intensive certification regime.

Which one do you need?

The deciding factor is almost always your target buyer, not your own preference. Work it backwards from who you want to sell to.

If you're selling at local, regional, or national level to independent retailers, farm shops, delis, quality-focused supermarkets, foodservice, or public sector, and you're a small producer, SALSA is very likely the right fit. It gives buyers the assurance they need, it's proportionate to your size, and it's achievable without dedicated technical staff.

If a specific large retailer has told you that you need BRCGS to be listed, or you're pursuing own-brand contracts with the major multiples, then BRCGS is what you need, and there's no SALSA shortcut around that requirement. The simplest approach is to ask your target buyer directly what certification they require before you spend anything; many small producers pursue certification on assumption and discover too late they aimed at the wrong standard.

For a great many small UK producers, the sensible path is to achieve SALSA first, win the buyers it unlocks, build robust systems and a track record, and step up to BRCGS later if and when a contract genuinely requires it. SALSA is often the natural first certification, not a lesser one.

How FoodSafe supports both

Whichever standard you're working towards, the underlying work is largely the same: a solid HACCP plan, consistent records, allergen control, traceability, and approved supplier management. The difference is mostly in the depth of documentation and the rigour of the management system around it.

FoodSafe is built to give small producers that foundation. Sage builds your HACCP plan to a methodology that satisfies SALSA, BRCGS, and Codex requirements, and the platform keeps the records, supplier register, allergen information, and traceability that both standards expect. For a small producer heading for SALSA, that's most of the work done. For one preparing the ground for BRCGS later, it means the core systems are already in place and maintained rather than scrambled together before an audit.

The bottom line

SALSA and BRCGS aren't competing options to pick on price. They serve different businesses and different buyers. For most small UK producers, SALSA is the right and achievable choice, and it's recognised by more buyers than people often realise. BRCGS is the path when a major retailer requires it, and it asks considerably more of you in return. Decide based on the buyers you're chasing, confirm the requirement with them directly, and pursue the standard that actually opens the doors you want.

If SALSA is your route, our complete SALSA certification guide walks through exactly what's involved from start to approval.

Food safety compliance, handled.