Family-owned Queensland beverage company Bundaberg Brewed Drinks (Bundaberg) recently aligned their entire brewing and sales process with the globally recognised standard known as Brand Reputation Compliance Global Standard or BRCGS.
“Having consumers tell us our products taste great isn’t enough. We also want consumers
to trust every bottle leaving our brewery meets the highest level of safety, no matter where they buy it”, says Brewhouse Manager, Belinda Desland.
As far as the company’s ambitions, Bundaberg’s focus has always been two-fold.
“Providing Australians with great tasting, locally sourced brews, as well as growing our international markets, are top priorities for us,” says Ms Desland. This meant implementing the BRCGS safety standard across the entire brewing and sales chain which took 12 months.
“The work required to meet, as well as maintain the BRCGS standard illustrates Bundaberg’s commitment to its customers,” Ms Desland commented. Ms Desland also recognises that this has been possible with the successful partnership between Bundaberg and Atturra.
Atturra runs Bundaberg’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system using the QAD software application, and Ms Desland couldn’t be happier with the result.
“This application is the backbone of our operations, doing everything from inventory, sales, finance, wastage reports, and traceability,” she said.
“This procurement policy is really important to us. We want to ensure Australians have confidence that when they buy our product, they are supporting Aussie farmers and
local businesses.”
The QAD application offers the flexibility that many of Atturra’s customers are looking for. Its application can suit a range of manufacturing verticals including automotive, consumer products, high technology, and life sciences. Atturra provides ERP for more than 60 manufacturers of which 25 are food and beverage from high volume bottlers through to specialist ingredients. For Bundaberg, the QAD software application hit the right mark, and the Atturra team has worked well with Bundaberg to ensure the system is working optimally at every stage of the brewing and sales process.”
Ms Desland believes that the BRCGS standard is comprehensive including meeting an annual audit that can take up to three days.A challenging part of the global standard is the traceability. If there is a report of contamination or a product needs to be recalled the manufacturer needs to identify product locations and ingredient sources, within four hours.
Traceability covers locating the product yet to be despatched, product in transit or where product has arrived at its destination. Other imperatives include where relevant ingredients are stored, or where the waste parts have been disposed of. This includes local as well as international markets. Confidence that the BRCGS standard is maintained is more vital than ever with Bundaberg supplying to over 60 countries; including, Asian, European, American and British markets.
Reaching out to international markets is a fantastic story for a 50-plus year old Queensland favourite; however, having the confidence of Australians is just as important. Bundaberg’s procurement policy states that they look to their local region and country to source their brewing needs. This has resulted in strong working relationships with local growers and transport companies in the Bundaberg region and demonstrates Bundaberg’s important role in supporting the local economy.
