Caroline’s Dairy Ice Cream
Caroline’s Dairy began making ice cream in 2008. They are an artisan ice cream producer making ice cream on their family-run dairy farm in the village of Sidlesham, south of Chichester in West Sussex. They produce traditional luxury ice cream in small batches using milk fresh from their dairy herd.
What motivated your company to seek SALSA in 2012?
Having SALSA accreditation would show our existing and potential customers that, although we may be a small company, we work to the highest standards.
What have been the main benefits to your company since becoming SALSA-Approved?
SALSA approval shows that we make safe food, have good working practices, and are trained to produce luxury safe ice cream and sorbets.
How has SALSA Approval impacted your relationships with customers and suppliers?
Customers know that we are a well-respected company for the safety and quality of our products. Our customers know that if they need any information on any batch we produce we can find the details they want in a matter of minutes using our software which manages our stock and traceability.
How does your team prepare for the annual SALSA audit?
We prepare for our annual audit throughout the year. We have organised all our records so they can be completed at convenient times during the weeks/months so they all get completed when they are due, signed off and filed. Other jobs are put into the calendar with reminders well in advance so we have time to organise them. For the past 2 years we have worked with consultants, Safer Food who we book in for our pre-audit assessment at least 2-3 months before our audit will be due to ensure we have covered everything.
What have been the most significant challenges in maintaining your certification since 2012?
We were first approved by SALSA in 2012 and this was with Version 3, since then we have seen a lot of changes and additions to the Standard which is now probably three times the size. This last change to Version 6 has been a challenge as we are a small company and unable to dedicate one person to working on these quality standards. In our company I have 2 ladies making ice cream full time, 2 part time ladies in the office and a part time delivery driver so it is tough sometimes as we are all extremely busy with our day to day jobs never mind having to add all the SALSA documentation as well, so the only way was to become more efficient and incorporate the standards into our daily/weekly working practices. We do get it done as I have wonderful staff who are also very proud of the fact that we have SALSA approval.
How does SALSA approval reflect your company’s commitment to food safety?
We are all completely committed to food safety, it is what we all expect from any food we purchase. If you cannot commit to food safety then you should not be making food to sell. SALSA approval shows our customers how dedicated we are to food safety.
What advice would you give other small and local food producers considering SALSA certification?
It is so important nowadays that food producers can show that they take food safety seriously, SALSA proves this, and by doing so I believe you can have fuller and better relationships with your customers as we are all in business to be successful. Provide your customers with safe food, be open and honest about your processes the quality of products you use makes it all a lot better. SALSA V6 is big now so it is worth having some help with a mentor if you are completely new to it is always a good way to start.
Is there anything else you would like to share about your journey with SALSA approval?
We are very proud that we haven’t had an Action Plan for the last 2 years, and we have achieved this by embedding the SALSA standards into our day to day working practices.
