Elevate Your Standards: Why SQF Quality Certification Matters

If your company has made a crucial investment in achieving SQF certification to show your operations are in line with a high level of food safety management practices, but you have not yet invested in SQF Quality certification, you should consider taking the next step forward.

Lead With Quality

The SQF Quality Code gives leaders a framework to reduce variation, strengthen customer trust, and make quality a competitive advantage. Pursuing SQF Quality certification signals that your operation is not only safe, but built for performance. It's a declaration to customers, auditors, and your own team that quality isn't optional; it's operational.

Achieving SQF Quality certification benefits your customers and your company.

• Helps with conformance
• Creates consistency
• Reduces costs and waste
• Allows you to showcase on your packaging

Available for Any GFSI-Benchmarked Certification

Starting with the SQF Edition 9 Code, SQFI expanded the program so that any GFSI-benchmarked food safety certified site can pursue SQF Quality certification, a mark that your operation values excellence as much as compliance. The cost is $250 and is available when you are audited through your certification body audit process.

Building Beyond Food Safety

The SQF Quality program is designed for sites that want to go beyond food safety, to implement systems that monitor, control, and improve product quality over time. It provides a structured way to identify and correct quality threats before they become costly problems.

By following the SQF Quality Code, your business can:

• Use a risk-based approach (similar to HACCP) to identify and control quality hazards
• Monitor key process parameters to detect deviations early
• Reduce production waste, consumer complaints, and returns
• Build a culture that values continuous improvement.

The result? A stronger reputation, tighter operations, and fewer surprises on the production floor.

Why Quality Certification Gives You An Edge

Adding SQF Quality certification can help your site stand out to buyers, brand partners, and retailers who demand consistent, measurable performance. It's proof that your systems don't just meet safety standards, they're engineered for reliability.

Companies pursuing SQF Quality often report:

• Increased customer confidence and repeat business
• Lower operating costs through reduced rework and waste
• More consistent products that strengthen brand loyalty.

Who Can Get Certified

Edition 9 made the SQF Quality program more inclusive than ever. Any site holding a GFSI-recognized food safety certification or equivalent programs such as HACCP or ISO 22000:2018 is now eligible.

That means that primary production, manufacturing, food packaging, and distribution sites across the supply chain can pursue certification, even if they are not currently SQF certified.

Why SQFI Expanded Eligibility

Quality is universal. Whether your facility produces beverages, packaging materials, or pet food, customers expect consistency. By removing references to SQF specific food safety elements, SQFI made the SQF Quality Code adaptable to any food safety system. This inclusive design allows both mature companies and new entrants to apply the same proven principles of process control and continuous improvement, no matter their starting point.

Getting Started With SQF Quality

Implementing a food quality system begins with what you already have in place. Start with your food safety foundation, then layer in quality controls that support measurable outcomes.

1. Contact your Certification Body (CB)
   • If your CB is SQF-licensed, they can guide your certification process.
   • If not, choose from SQF's licensed Certification Bodies.
2. Download the SQF Quality Code

   • Access the latest version in our Library of Codes.

3. Plan and Implement
   
   • Align your compliant handling, process control, and supplier management systems that meet SQF Quality requirements.

Note: Sites adding SQF Quality certification outside the SQF Food Safety Program pay a $250 USD fee. SQF certified sites adding quality certification only pay a $150 fee.

Helpful Resources

• Download the SQF Quality Code Edition 9 and the checklist
• Find an SQF Certification Body or contact your existing certification body
• Learn about the SQF Food Safety & Quality Programs