Food and retail customers audit packaging, and the findings are rarely about the material specification. They are about condition, cleanliness, identification and whether what is written down matches what is on the floor.
What auditors actually look for
- The oldest packaging in service. Not the delivery that arrived last week – the crate at the back of the yard that has been there three years.
- Cleanliness of the packaging as stored, including empties, because empties are usually dirtier than full ones.
- Identification. Whether the packaging is traceable, and whether markings survive washing.
- Segregation. Whether packaging for food contact is kept apart from packaging that is not.
- Damage. Split corners, open edges, exposed flute that could shed material.
- Storage conditions. Off the floor, dry, away from chemicals and waste.
- Documentation. Material declaration, and whether cleaning records exist and are current.
The walk-through
Before the audit, walk your own site the way an auditor will: start at goods-in, go through storage, look at the empties area, look at the wash, and finish at the packing line. Photograph anything you would not want a visitor to see.
Almost every finding is visible during this walk. It is a different exercise from reviewing specifications, and it is where the preparation effort belongs.
The common findings and what fixes them
Old damaged crates in service. Not a purchasing problem but a discipline problem. A written retirement rule – split base, open edge, no longer sits flat – and a visible place to put retired crates solves it.
No cleaning records. A simple log with date, batch, conditions and verification result. It does not need to be software.
Markings worn off. Replace printed labels with moulded or embossed identification, or plan to re-label on a schedule.
Empties stored outside or on the ground. Empties need a proper location, not a corner. If there is nowhere for them, they end up somewhere unsuitable.
No material declaration. Have the documentation ready before it is asked for. This is where a supplier who will state what is in the material is worth having.
What to have ready
- Material information for the packaging in food contact, from the actual supplier, current.
- Cleaning procedure and the records that show it is followed.
- Retirement criteria in writing, and evidence that they are applied.
- A named person responsible for packaging condition.
The two weeks before, in order
Audit preparation works better as a short schedule than as a panic.
Two weeks out. Pull the documents: material declarations, cleaning procedure, the maintenance and inspection records for returnable packaging, the pest control reports. Read them once yourself and note anything you would not want to defend out loud. Missing records can sometimes be reconstructed honestly; fabricated ones are a far worse problem and auditors spot them.
One week out. Walk the route the product actually takes, using the packaging that is actually in service, not the pallet staged for visitors. Look at crates as they come off the line, not as they leave the wash bay. This is the walk that finds the cracked corner and the stained base, and it is also the walk that tells you which of your documented checks is not really happening.
The day before. Set aside clean stock, and be deliberate about damaged stock: move it out of the packing area entirely rather than stacking it neatly at the back of the room. Auditors pick from working inventory more often than from the neat row you prepared, and a damaged crate found in the wrong place costs more credibility than the crack itself.
Then stop. Rehearsing the night before tends to produce stiff answers, and stiff answers invite follow-up questions.
The honest limitation
No amount of preparation substitutes for the packaging actually being in good condition and clean on the day. Audits are good at finding the difference between a documented process and a real one, and the gap is usually visible in the first five minutes.
Where our packaging is part of your submission, we will provide the material information and the construction details you need. Ask us before the audit rather than during it – it is a much shorter conversation.
We supply reusable produce boxes built for washable, auditable service, and we will tell you what will and will not survive the regime you describe.