Salsa keeps it moving

The Safe and Local Supplier Approval scheme (Salsa) continues to grow, despite consumer moves away from branded artisan products to economy own-label lines.

Salsa was launched in March 2007 to help reassure retail buyers sourcing from small, local food producers. Registered Salsa supplier members number around 1,000, with just under 1,500 making use of the not for profit organisation's website - including 378 retail buyers.

Membership take-up was slow initially. But it now exceeds the figure of 500 audit certifications a year needed to ensure its viability.

Salsa scheme director Chris Grimes said: "The fallout [of members re-certifying with Salsa] over the first couple of years has been less than 10%. But the growth was far greater, so the net effect is that the scheme is still growing at a healthy rate."

In January this year, Waitrose called on its 350-plus small and regional suppliers to become Salsa members.

This doesn't mean they have to be certified by Salsa, rather than other food safety accreditation schemes such as British Retail Consortium. But it is a boost for the scheme, which aims to provide the standards of safety, legality and quality expected by national retail buyers.

While Asda and Sainsbury also support Salsa, Tesco has set up its own audit teams for small local suppliers.

Salsa has also formed strong links with the Foods Standards Agency, which supports its aims.