Implementation of the Brc food safety management system in Latin American countries: Motivations and barriers

Abstract

PurposeCompanies in the food sector use a food safety management system (FSMS) to ensure the safety of their products, and thereby minimize any risk to consumers; nevertheless, FSMSs have been used less extensively in Latin America. The purpose of this study was therefore to analyze the motivations and barriers facing Latin American food companies that implement an FSMS such the British Retail Consortium (BRC) standard, as well as to identify any significant differences across Latin American countries. MethodologyThe data were collected from a sample of 223 food-production plants certified according to BRC standards in 14 countries in South and Central America; the study involved an exploratory factor analysis and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). FindingsThe results show that all the companies implementing a BRC standard are exporters, and their main motivations are to guarantee product safety and consumer welfare. Four components that group the motivations have been identified: ethical, efficiency, legitimacy and commercial. In the case of barriers, we have found they are mainly financial, and related to factors in the business environment. The first of these barriers is present regardless of the country where the plant is located, while the second barrier is linked to country-specific conditions. Originality and implicationsThis is one of the first research studies conducted in Latin America on an FSMS such as BRC, aiming to fill a lacuna by analyzing the motivations and barriers involved. In addition, we show that there may be differences in these factors between countries and with the existing literature. Finally, we seek to provide an initial platform for informing future studies and developing models that consider the particular dynamics of food safety in Latin America.