Fresh foods GS1 България

Fresh foods

Transforming complex supply chains into seamless, flexible and transparent shopping.

The FMCG sector is facing serious challenges, including delivery of fresh and fresh products, safety of end users, good management of food waste, ensuring traceability along the entire “farm to fork” chain. Efficiency and safety are key. In addition to this, the products of this group have their specificities, which require refinement of the standards used in the other categories of products.

Leading food industry manufacturers, traders, trade and consumer associations work together within the GS1 Fresh Foods Industry Group to improve the identification of fresh food products through the introduction of global standards. Using a standardized approach helps to increase food safety and ensure traceability, as well as improve the efficiency of business processes for the entire industry.

Brochure GS1 Databar

Good practice Bella Bulgaria

Guidelines for implementation of fresh food standards

Smart Device Augmented Reality Food Ripeness Checking

Traceability

Important for food manufacturers

From July 1, 2021, GLN numbers are required for IFS Food certification to identify production facilities and warehouses of certified companies. The aim is to simplify communication between suppliers and retailers, and to further optimize the security and verifiability of issued IFS certificates. GLN is an additional attribute with which you prove to your business partners the authenticity of the certificate and compliance with the highest standards.

GLN for IFS certification in three steps

1. Requesting a GLN

The Global Location Number (GLN) is like a fingerprint in the electronic exchange of documents in the country and abroad. It serves to identify the company as a legal entity and its physical and functional locations at different levels and types. Within the framework of IFS Food certification, a separate GLN is required for each individual location that falls within the scope of certification.
Structure of the GLN number:

The number is 13 digits and serves as a key to information about the company in the relevant database.

GS1 Bulgaria member companies that have a license for a company prefix and mark goods with a barcode also have GLN numbers. To understand exactly how these numbers are constructed and activated, please contact a GS1 Bulgaria expert for further clarification.

Companies that do NOT have a GS1 company prefix or single GLN numbers can apply for:

1) a license for a company prefix with a capacity of 100, 1000, 10,000 and 100,000 numbers, respectively;

2) a package of 10 GLN numbers;

3) a single GLN number;

More information can be found in the Registration section

2. Activation of a GLN number

The activation of GLN numbers is carried out by entering them into the GS1 Activate platform, which is accessible to GS1 Bulgaria member companies. In order to create a company profile on this platform, you need to send the name and email of the person who will work with it to gs1bulgaria@gs1bg.org.

For your convenience, GS1 Activate supports the Bulgarian language, and you will also find a short guide for working with and managing GLN numbers

In certification, the most common type of GLN is a permanent physical location, for which it is necessary to enter an address and contact details.

3. GLN number verification

Active GLN numbers are shared with the GS1 Global Registry and through the global service Verified by GS1, a check can be made by interested parties, such as whether the GLN number is active, whether it actually belongs to the relevant company, what is the type of location or address. This service is used by certification organizations, including under IFS Food.

You can easily check the entered data on the official website https://www.gs1.org/services/verified-by-gs1 in the Verify Location/party section, by entering the 13-digit GLN number in the search field.