La Rocca achieves BRC Global Standard for Food Safety

November 8, 2011, Toronto – La Rocca Creative Cakes is the first independently owned dessert manufacturer in North America to achieve British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standard for Food Safety certification.

After successfully completing a three-day audit conducted by Guelph Food Technology Centre (GFTC), La Rocca received the highest rating – an A – for its manufacturing practices and food safety standards.

BRC’s Global Standard for Food Safety is one of the standards approved by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

“For 25 years, we’ve had incredibly high quality, production and safety standards,” said president and co-founder Michael Givens. “Now, that we’ve been recognized by the GFSI, our valued customers can be reassured by our certification and continue to rely on La Rocca to meet this Global Standard.”

The BRC Global Standard for Food Safety was created to establish a standard for due diligence and supplier approval and has been adopted by food manufacturers throughout the world. It enables suppliers to be audited by third party certification bodies against a single consistent standard, reducing duplication of effort and enabling the retail industry to focus activities on areas of competitive advantage.

GFSI benchmarks existing food standards against food safety criteria and also looks to develop mechanisms to exchange information in the supply chain, to raise consumer awareness and to review existing good retail practices.

"La Rocca is proud to be the first independent high-end dessert manufacturing company to receive this level of certification," the company said in a press release.

Over sixty years ago the La Rocca family started a dessert making tradition in Naples, Italy. In 1986, they founded La Rocca Creative Cakes, a small, family owned bakery in Woodbridge, Ont.

Today, over 150 skilled bakers hand finish and decorate each and every La Rocca cake.