Hello,
We're a specialized livestock feed mill, currently processing (raw grain to finished product) and bagging one particular product, but my boss is looking at adding another new (very similar) grain...this time, it would already be fully processed, we would simply be bagging it and selling it.
We're trying to weight out the pros and cons of taking one of the following three paths to do so:
1. Bring the finished product in, in a bulk form, and package it ourselves. We currently do NOT have a way to bring in this type of finished product, as everything that is currently incoming is in raw grain form, and we process it ourselves. So, the big question mark is what it would take to create a product flow from bulk finished product receiving to getting it into the bagging bin (we do NOT currently have bin routing to facilitate this).
2. We have the supplier simply bag it themselves, and label it as our product (toll milling). This makes us the guarantor...so, under FSMA, what would we be required to do? I'm assuming we'd need to set them up as an Approved Supplier, but to what extent? Do we need to do on-site audits at their location? This is a very low-risk product (and process).
3. Since the supplier already bags and labels this product themselves for their own distribution and sales, we could just buy their product and re-sell it (though obviously the least economically advantageous option, it's also the option with the least amount of liability over product and process).
Thoughts? Opinions?
Thanks,
Brian