Food Safety and Quality Expectations for Wegmans Brand Food (Finished Products or Raw Materials/Ingredients), Health & Wellness, and Home & Entertaining Suppliers.
All suppliers to Wegmans must be able to demonstrate systematic control of safety and quality. Wegmans fully endorses the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI); continued certification to one of the GFSI-recognized programs is our primary requirement for sites manufacturing Wegmans food products or raw materials utilized at our Wegmans manufacturing facilities. Wegmans collects the current full audit report (including corrective action) and certificate in English prior to approving a “new” supplier site and then at least annually thereafter. If applicable, the Organic certificate and Client Profile/Addendum documents are also collected on an annual basis. All Wegmans suppliers and any associated manufacturing sites are expected to conform to the expectations outlined in our Supplier Codes of Practice and may be subject to periodic verification audits by Wegmans personnel or designated Wegmans representatives. Wegmans reserves the right to change a supplier status based on the outcome of an audit or situation.
1.1
Conduct business in compliance with all laws and regulations prevailing in the country of operation. Wegmans expects its suppliers to comply, at a minimum, with all applicable labor, employment, health, safety, and environmental laws and regulations of the country, state, and municipality where the products are produced.
1.2
Understand and manage risks related to product, industry, and employees by having strong employee health & safety, quality, and food safety systems and programs in place.
1.3
Pay employees wages and benefits, in a timely manner, that meet or exceed those required by federal, state, or local laws and regulations.
1.4
In the absence of applicable laws or regulations, or in addition to them, suppliers are expected to meet the requirements set forth in Wegmans Supplier Codes of Practice, the “For Our Suppliers” section of wegmans.com, and Private Label Agreements, if applicable. Wegmans does not tolerate child labor or modern-day slavery—such as forced or compulsory labor or the trafficking of persons. Suppliers are required to commit to a work environment where employment is freely chosen and not performed under threat, deception, coercion, force, or menace of penalty. Wegmans will audit or investigate any potential concerns regarding child labor, slavery, or human trafficking, whether by its direct supplier, transportation companies, or elsewhere in the supply chain.
1.5
Operate in an ethical manner and support a culture of integrity and trust with their employees, including a mechanism for employees to report any potential issues or concerns in a confidential manner. Wegmans does not allow the sharing of money, gifts, services, entertainment, or travel in exchange for doing business.
1.6
Support a culture of caring and respect where discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability status, or any other characteristics covered under state of federal laws is prohibited and dealt with accordingly.
1.7
Develop product specifications in conjunction with Wegmans and develop a finished product sample retain program where appropriate. Mutually agreed upon specifications must be in place before products can be manufactured for Wegmans. Carefully developed specifications help to ensure product quality and consistency for our customers. First shipments will be tested and analyzed against the specification to ensure accuracy prior to release by Wegmans.
1.8
Notify Wegmans before any changes are made to ingredients, packaging materials, processes, equipment, or manufacturing locations. In the event that an ingredient change results in a change to the allergen declaration (including “may contain” statements), Wegmans must be notified at least 30 days in advance of the ingredient change via email to both your current Wegmans contact and [email protected].
1.9
Take the appropriate action to prevent and correct any food safety or quality issues. This includes conducting thorough and timely investigations of consumer complaints or concerns presented by Wegmans or Wegmans’ customers.
1.10
Notify Wegmans in a timely manner of any GFSI certification suspensions and/or recalls involving any facility producing products for Wegmans.
1.11
For those suppliers handling livestock, conduct periodic welfare audits for livestock production and processing. Audits should include objective, measurable criteria and follow the recommendations of the American Meat Institute and the Food Marketing Institute. Willful acts of abuse will not be tolerated. Wegmans will request and review these audits on an annual basis.
1.12
Maintain an effective complaint response system including root cause analysis and provide Wegmans with Corrective Action responses on company letterhead when requested.
Wegmans recognizes the approved programs that have been endorsed by GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative). Information on these standards can be found at this website: http://www.mygfsi.com. For consideration, reports, and certificates need to be current (no more than one year old), submitted by an accredited Certification Body in English and in whole, along with any resulting corrective actions. Wegmans reserves the right to conduct supplier audits of these third-party certified facilities if deemed necessary. Wegmans reserves the right to change our position on acceptance of GFSI-endorsed food safety standards at any time, and to consider other non-GFSI-endorsed certifications on a case-by-case basis.
Third-party testing may be required by Wegmans (based on Country of Origin, Importer of Record, or Product Risk). This will be communicated by the category merchant and QA team during product review.
Wegmans Supplier Codes of Practice-V10, effective August 14, 2024.