DS Smith’s newest packaging, design and manufacturing plant has earned the highest certification in an industry-wide benchmark for safety and quality.

The company’s Lebanon plant was awarded an AA rating after being audited by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), a global trade and certification organization. Of the more than 1,100 corrugated plants in the U.S., only 5 percent are at the AA level—the highest rating possible.

The BRC ratings are widely regarded by those in the food processing and manufacturing industry as the most demanding safety standard in the world, providing a framework to manage product safety, integrity, legality and quality.

The group’s standards are used by more than 29,000 certificated suppliers in 130 countries, often a fundamental requirement of leading retailers, manufacturers and food service organizations.

“Achieving the BRC certification is a critical element for our growth in North America. All credit goes to our Lebanon quality control team for their work in preparing for the audit and accreditation process. Thanks to their efforts, we are now in a position to better serve and expand our value-added packaging solutions offering to local, national and global customers, who recognize the importance of this certification,” said Mark Ushpol, managing director of Packaging at DS Smith North America.

In recent decades, recalls have increased greater consumer awareness about food safety and supplies. That has caused retailers and food service providers to adopt assurance measures, protecting the firm and brand against a recall.

As a result, many North American and European retailers mandate that their suppliers provide such assurance by achieving GFSI-recognized (Global Food Safety Initiative) certification like that from the BRC.

As a BRCG-certified facility, DS Smith Lebanon offers customers:

• Internationally recognized, accredited food safety and quality certification
• Food safety assurance
• Reduced supply chain audits
• A system that supports legal compliance

DS Smith Packaging Lebanon, which opened in full in January, is a state-of-the-art 500,000 square foot manufacturing facility. It can produce 17 million square feet of sustainable performance packaging per day for segments such as e-commerce, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), pharma and confectionary.