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Background to the support
Cig Calon Cymru is an abattoir and meat processing facility based in Carmarthenshire with a management team that has over 100 years’ experience in the meat industry.
The BRCGS certified facility has a strong focus on animal welfare, quality assurance and traceability and works to support local farmers and the meat industry. As one of the last remaining abattoirs in South West Wales, they have an important role to play in animal welfare through minimising the distance local farmers have to travel with their livestock.
Support from ZERO2FIVE
Cig Calon Cymru have been working with ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre for over four years, receiving support through Project HELIX to maintain their BRCGS food safety certification. This support has included ZERO2FIVE delivering a programme of internal audits against the requirements of the standard as well as mentoring the company’s technical management team. Cig Calon Cymru has also previously benefited from the assistance of a technical affiliate who was embedded in the company through the Project HELIX Knowledge Transfer Scheme.
As part of the company’s ongoing support with BRCGS certification, Cig Calon Cymru received help to secure BRCGS voluntary module 11, ‘Meat Supply Chain Assurance’. This module enables certification holders to provide confidence to their customers that they are minimising the risk of food fraud by demonstrating good supply chain management through robust traceability systems and verification of authenticity.
ZERO2FIVE provided mentoring on the requirements of the voluntary module and included supply chain elements in the company’s ongoing programme of internal audits. ZERO2FIVE also carried out traceability tests to challenge Cig Calon’s processes by randomly selecting batches and assessing their documentation from the farm gate through to the boxed product to ensure that everything was accounted for throughout the supply chain.
Benefits of the support
As a result of the support from ZERO2FIVE, Cig Calon Cymru successfully secured BRCGS voluntary module 11 in 2021 and they have continued to maintain their certification under the recently launched BRCGS Issue 9, successfully passing their most recent audit in May 2023.
Since gaining the certification, Cig Calon Cymru has begun exporting Welsh lamb, in part thanks to the increased confidence that their customers can have in the traceability and provenance of their meat. The certification sits alongside the company’s Red Tractor Farm Assurance and Organic certifications in providing reassurance to their customers.
In addition to the support Cig Calon Cymru has received through Project HELIX, the company works closely with Cardiff Metropolitan University to engage with their food science and technology students and create a career pathway for young technical professionals looking to embark on careers in the meat industry. A number of students have undertaken placements with the company and have gone on to be permanently employed by them following graduation. Cig Calon Cymru has invested in these employees to help them develop into technical management positions.
Vaughn Round, Cig Calon Cymru:
"ZERO2FIVE have been instrumental in helping us achieve our BRCGS, in particular, the voluntary module 11. We would have no hesitation in recommending ZERO2FIVE to any business looking for help. Their knowledge, level of expertise, flexibility and mentorship has been fantastic and as a business we couldn’t be more thankful. Following their involvement we are well placed to meet the challenges ahead and we have full confidence in our robust systems and processes."
