Interview with an Auditor

Amol Gandhi is one of our newest Auditors, we talked to him about working with SALSA

How long have you worked in the food industry and what was your first job?

My first job was with the R & R Ice-cream working as a Lead Quality Controller in their brand-new site in a beautiful countryside of the North Yorkshire.

You are one of our newest Auditors (and a Mentor), how are you finding working with SALSA?

I am finding it quite exciting to go to new places to carry out SALSA audits. I must admit sometimes I feel nervous before the audit, but once prepared, I really enjoy the whole experience of auditing.

Although, I have done a good number of supplier audits previously, SALSA members have different dynamism. It is great to know about different businesses, their product range and their aspiring future plans. Also, SALSA audits are different in comparison to other standards as they allow me to make recommendations, and in some way, there is freedom for me to exchange ideas to support the food businesses whilst carrying out a professional audit.

The support and communication from the SALSA allocation team and operation team are also very good. 

What is the most important piece of advice you can give a Supplier preparing for an audit?

The suppliers can benefit by reading the SALSA Standard. SALSA offers generous support to members including an Interpretation Guide, Tools & Tips, on-call support, social media updates, sector-specific training etc. Also, if suppliers wish, they can go to SALSA directory for mentors who can provide them support, this is especially useful if the supplier needs help in internal audits, HACCP, VACCP, TACCP write-ups and training. Particularly useful if you are preparing for your first SALSA audit.

What do you enjoy most about SALSA auditing and mentoring?

The new software-based SALSA auditing and mentoring system is just a wonderful way of demonstrating to SALSA members that the SALSA Scheme is leading in innovation and modernisation of audits. The electronic auditing app allows us to see the previous year‘s actions, improvements and clauses related to food safety culture. Also, during an audit it allows me to track the progress of the audit and any actions and recommendations I am raising. Not only this, starting from setting up an opening meeting to automatically generating action and improvement plan for the closing meeting, it is truly an impressive tool. Bye Bye to the old days of manually generating audit reports!

I also enjoy SALSA audits as they are relatively short but valuable audits which allow members to dedicate necessary time on the day of the audit without affecting their day-to-day function.

What is a key issue facing British food producers in 2023/24?

I just feel rising cost of ingredients, utilities and overall cost of living is a key challenge for British Producer. Also, it has been difficult for food businesses to retain staff and skills due to increase turnover of staff. Overall, a great challenge for most of the food businesses to maintain the commercial viability in the current circumstances. 

Read the latest SALSA Bites magazine here.