HACCP System for Craft Breweries
These days a month doesn’t go by without some sort of Craft Brewing event or festival somewhere in Ireland. Craft Breweries are opening up at a rapid pace. Of course this is a good thing for Ireland, promoting our culture, creating jobs and growing the market at a rate of 45% per a year.
However, with this rapid growth and the opening of numerous craft breweries, pubs etc. comes some concerns with respect to quality and also safety. How do you know that a brewery is operating at the highest standards of quality and safety? Craft breweries are a food business and food businesses in Ireland must implement a food safety management system based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) and undergo rigourous inspections to ensure they are operating to the highest standards of food hygiene and HACCP. Up until recently craft breweries have not been asked by regulatory authorities to implement a quality management system based on HACCP.
About a year ago Mary was contacted by a number of breweries with regard to developing a HACCP system specifically for craft breweries and brewpubs – something completely new to us. I was happy to accept this challenge. With a degree in Food Science I have completed an intense module on Cereals in University College Cork. This included learning about brewing and distilling and we even carried out a brewing practical in the well known UCC microbrewery producing our own beer! In addition to this, I completed a 6 month placement with Diageo in the Smithwicks Brewery in Kilkenny. Yes, Diageo is a giant compared with a craft brewery but I used what I learned from my time there in the design of the Craft Brewing HACCP System.
Recently our first HACCP system was implemented and EHO approved for the Cotton Ball Brewing Company in Mayfield. They now have a bespoke and robust HACCP plan which helps in the production of consistent, high quality product and also deals with all the necessary controls in place to control contamination and cross contamination.
In the past two weeks one craft brewery and one brewpub have signed up for help with their HACCP – it’s clear to see the Craft Brewery HACCP plan is becoming a necessity.
What does a HACCP System mean for Craft Breweries? As well as improved quality and safety standards an effective HACCP system will lead to increased customer confidence as you demonstrate your commitment to excellence in quality, safety, hygiene and compliance.
For further information on anything in this article us now at info@marydaly.ie or use the contact form below.
Tags: excellence, University College Cork, safety, quality, pubs, Mary Daly, hygiene, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, Food Science, EHO, cross contamination, craft breweries, c, Quality Management System, Compliance, HACCP
