A WET pet food facility is celebrating achieving 'Grade A' British Retail Consortium status and winning new multi-million pound contracts.

The facility at Inspired Pet Nutrition’s manufacturing site at IPN Kinmel in Bodelwyddan achieved BRC accreditation for its dry pet food production two years ago.

The latest accreditation for its wet pet food means the site is compliant with BRC’s Global Standards which are used by more than 25,000 certificated suppliers in over 130 countries worldwide.

James Lawson, managing director, said: “We pride ourselves as having one of the most efficient human grade quality wet food kitchens in the industry and as our easy-peel tray and FreshCookTM process is proving so successful, we feel it is the right time to offer our services to other retailers and brands around the globe.

"Sales of our wet pet food products are up 50 per cent compared with this time last year.”

The audit process, completed in under four months and without the need for a pre-audit, included all stages of the manufacturing process, including the intake of raw materials, wet food processing, packing, quality assurance, food safety compliance and traceability systems.

Dominic Whelan, site operations manager, said: “To receive 'Grade A' status in such a short time is a huge endorsement of the top quality production facilities and processes at IPN Kinmel and just reward for the hard work put in by the team.

"The certification also gives us an internationally recognised mark of food quality, safety and responsibility and opens further up co-manufacturing opportunities with pet food companies both in the UK and abroad.”

This latest success is a further boost for IPN’s Harringtons FreshCookTM wet dog food range.

Following the business winning major new listings and latterly own label contracts worth several million pounds, the workforce has grown to around 75 employees after the addition of a third wet filling shift and second packing shift.

IPN Kinmel is keen to explore other wet food co-manufacturing projects for third parties.

Achieving BRC accreditation means the site now also meets the standards required by the Global Food Safety Initiative.