Food producers in Germany
The food industry in Germany is made up of manufacturers of food and animal feed and, together with the beverage industry, forms the so-called food industry. The German food industry currently employs around half a million people in 5,600 companies (each with more than 20 employees). The turnover of the German food industry was recently around 160 billion euros - with the largest share of turnover in the "slaughtering and meat processing" segment (Statista).
Consumer spending on food by private households in Germany, which has been increasing for years, and steadily growing foreign trade are leading to rapid developments in the industry, both in terms of turnover and investment. In addition to prices and food safety concerns, the market is increasingly focusing on sustainability and climate neutrality: seals, certifications and sustainability reports are now an integral part of the business.
GUTcert - Your certifier in the field of food and agricultural products
Certification from SMEs to large corporations - nationally and internationally
Auditors with many years of experience in the food industry
Fair offers without small print
Personal support from a single source

There are no items matching your search.
Our service for food producers
A quality management system certified according to ISO 9001 primarily serves to ensure the product quality required by the customer and to optimise existing company processes. The system is often a "must" in the contract award process - also internationally: business partners want to underpin good cooperation with a certified quality management system.
Offer of the GUTcert Academy
Seminars on the topic of quality management
Food production and processing involves considerable consumption of energy, water and raw materials and the emission of large quantities of emissions.
Reducing food waste is a particularly important issue. The 10 largest food retailers worldwide, such as AEON, Ahold Delhaize, Carrefour, IKEA Food, Kroger, METRO AG, Pick n Pay, The Savola Group, Sodexo, Tesco and Walmart, have already joined an international initiative "10x20x30", which aims to reduce waste by 50% at 20 direct food suppliers by 2030.
An ISO 14001-certified or EMAS-validated environmental management system provides the foundation for continuous improvement in environmental performance and helps your company meet regulatory requirements through the economical use of raw materials and energy, permanently reduce costs, and respond to ever louder calls for more ecological action.
Offer of the GUTcert Academy
Seminars on the topic of environmental management
By introducing an energy management system according to ISO 50001, potential savings can be identified and energy sources can be used more efficiently. In addition, a certified system protects you against the particularly complex legislation in this area.
As an accredited certification body with a wide range of approvals, we issue certificates that not only fulfil the standard requirements, but also guarantee recognition by state authorities.
For example, state benefits or tax refunds, such as the Special Compensation Scheme (BesAR) under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) and the successor regulation to the Peak Compensation Scheme under the SpaEfV, are linked to the operation of a systematic EnMS in accordance with ISO 50001, EMAS or (for SMEs) an Alternative System. Our certification is worth your money.
Nachweise für nachhaltigkeitsbezogene Leistungen werden zunehmend zu obligatorischen Kriterien bei großen Ausschreibungen. Auch die Auftragsvergabe in der Wertschöpfungskette der Lebensmittelindusrtie hängt häufig davon ab, was ein Unternehmen leistet und wie transparent es dies kommuniziert.
Die Motivation erwächst dabei für börsennotierte Unternehmen zum einen direkt aus der Berichtspflicht des CSR-RUG oder für kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen indirekt, da sie Teil der Lieferkette großer Unternehmen sind.
RSPO Supply Chain Standard – die Produktzertifizierung für nachhaltiges Palmöl
Ob Schokolade, Backwaren oder Convenience-Food: Palmöl findet sich in all diesen Produkten. Mit einer Lieferkettenzertifizierung von nachhaltigem Palmöl nach dem RSPO Supply Chain Standard leisten Sie einen wertvollen Beitrag für den Naturschutz und die Einhaltung von Menschenrechten – und gehen damit sogar über das gesetzlich Vorgeschriebene hinaus.
REDcert2-Zertifizierung
REDcert2 ist ein Zertifizierungssystem, das es Unternehmen im Lebensmittel- und Futtermittelbereich ermöglicht, die Einhaltung bestimmter Nachhaltigkeitskriterien nachzuweisen. Die Anforderungen der Zertifizierung beziehen sich unter anderem auf Recycling, Wassermanagement, Energieeffizienz, Bodenverdichtung sowie soziales Engagement und bauen auf dem REDcert-EU-System sowie den Kriterien nach SAI (Sustainable Agriculture Initiative) auf. REDcert² bezieht sich auf die die ganze Lieferkette und ist somit eines der wenigen Nachhaltigkeitszertifizierungssysteme, das auf allen Stufen – vom Landwirt bis zur Liefer- und Handelsstufe – anwendbar ist.
Nachhaltigkeitsmanagement – öffentlicher Nachweis für besonderes Engagement
Das Einführen eines Nachhaltigkeitsmanagements und das Verfassen eines Nachhaltigkeitsberichts hilft Unternehmen, systematisch ihre Nachhaltigkeitsziele zu erreichen und dabei ihre Wirtschaftlichkeit zu sichern.
Ein validierter Nachhaltigkeitsbericht nach DNK oder GRI ist ein wichtiges Instrument, um wirtschaftliche, ökologische und soziale unternehmerische Leistungen Geschäftspartnern, Kunden, NGOs und der Öffentlichkeit zu präsentieren und Vertrauen zu schaffen.
Die Plattform EcoVadis führt mit das wichtigste Nachhaltigkeitsranking von Unternehmen in Deutschland durch. Bei der Lieferantenauswahl bietet ein validierter Nachhaltigkeitsbericht Unternehmen dabei nicht nur Vorteile im Ranking, sondern sichert auch die Teilnahme an Ausschreibungen und in der Auftragsvergabe.
Nachhaltigkeitsbericht der SARIA Germany
Die SARIA-Gruppe ist international tätig als Hersteller von Qualitätserzeugnissen für die menschliche und tierische Ernährung, für die Landwirtschaft, für die Aquakultur und für pharmazeutische sowie industrielle Anwendungen. Die GUTcert zertifiziert dabei nicht nur die dazugehörigen Unternehmen wie u.A. EcoMotion, ReFood und SecArnim, Sarval, sondern validiert auch den Nachhaltigkeitsbericht der SARIA.
Climate neutrality
Climate-friendly labelling is one of the biggest challenges facing the food industry. How should consumers recognise climate-neutral products in the sea of green packaging? And how can you as a company credibly communicate your pioneering role in climate management?
GUTcert supports the food industry here by verifying the so-called carbon footprint as proof of climate-neutral products and companies.
In order to remain competitive, your company should also develop a climate strategy now. It is a prerequisite for long-term investments in climate-friendly technologies and renewable energies for heating and cooling, and the conversion of vehicle fleets and sales offices.
But how does one draw up a greenhouse gas balance? Which emissions are calculated and which may be disregarded?
Process for achieving climate neutrality
Carbon Footprint
The Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF) shows the greenhouse gas balance for companies. It is an important factor for food manufacturers: in the B2B sector it plays a role in awarding contracts, in the B2C sector it can influence public image, sales figures and thus market share.
Politicians at international and national level are also calling for a reduction in fossil energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). And the German government's Climate Protection Programme 2030 provides for an increasing price on GHG.
As an accredited verification body, GUTcert supports you by verifying the carbon footprint of your company.
The Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) is a credible proof of the climate neutrality of individual products. The product life cycle is considered, from production to sale to the retailer or end consumer (cradle-to-gate) or to disposal (cradle-to-grave).
Does your company want to use the PCF in brand communication? The quality of the data, the reliability and transparency of the methodology are decisive for a critical public - especially because indirect emissions are also determined here.
With a verification of your PCF, you receive the necessary security for your communication through reliable data.
With food scandals on the rise, compliance with food standards is essential today.
The HACCP concept helps you to increase general food safety, minimise the risk of product recalls and thus strengthen your position in the market. An HACCP concept can be audited completely separately, but can also be easily integrated into an already existing quality management system according to ISO 9001. This also minimises the audit effort in the case of a combined audit.
FSSC 22000 certification has been recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) as equivalent to other approved procedures such as IFS or BRC. Thus, FSSC is widely accepted by all parties involved in the supply chain.
FSSC 22000 certification combines requirements of ISO 22000 and the sector-specific preventive programmes of the ISO/TS 22002-X series. In addition, there are specific FSSC 22000 requirements. With AGRIZERT Zertifizierungs GmbH, we have a strong partner with a lot of experience in the field of food and feed certification. We will be happy to provide you with an individual offer or answer your open questions.
Attention: Food retailers and logistics centres that are considered operators of critical infrastructures (KRITIS) are obliged under the IT Security Act (§8a (3) BSIG) to have their internal security guidelines audited. ISO/IEC 27001 is a target-oriented instrument for this and also helps to meet industry standards.
An occupational health and safety management system (SGAMS) certified according to ISO 45001 helps to minimise accident and illness-related absences in your workforce. The introduction and maintenance of an SGAMS is primarily linked to environmental management.
As a member of the globally represented AFNOR Group, GUTcert offers you certifications worldwide - also in combination with, for example, environmental or quality management.
Linking or integrating different management systems not only brings cost benefits but also organisational simplifications. If the different requirements are combined in an integrated system approach, this minimises the overall expense for setting up and maintaining the entire management system. Price advantages of up to 50% compared to the separate handling of the individual procedures are not uncommon. By combining audit dates into a single on-site audit, for example, the time required can be reduced, as the duration is then significantly shorter than the sum of the individual audits.
EcoStep 5.1 and EcoStep Wine
We also offer the cost-effective and effective Integrated Management System EcoStep 5.1. EcoStep is specially tailored to the needs of businesses with up to 250 employees. It covers a freely selectable combination of core elements of the following ISO standards:
- Quality management according to ISO 9001
- Environmental management according to ISO 14001
- Occupational health and safety according to ISO 45001
- Energy management according to ISO 50001
- Food safety according to ISO 22000 incl. FSSC
EcoStep 5.1 Wine is an integrated management system for wineries. Accepted by the supply chain and well-known retailers such as Aldi, Edeka, Rewe, Metro and others, the system looks at a winery's operations and uncovers potential for improvement in specific areas without focusing too much on formal compliance with standard elements. The focus is rather on the real benefits for small businesses.
Our experts on site
Our qualified auditors have years of industry experience and speak your language!
GUTcert networks

In cooperation with RKW Bremen GmbH, we test and certify the core requirements for quality management, environmental management and occupational health and safety laid down for EcoStep. EcoStep is a lean, cost-effective management system tailored to SMEs with up to 250 employees.

With AGRIZERT Zertifizierungs GmbH, we have a strong partner with a lot of experience in the field of food and feed certification. We will be happy to provide you with an individual offer or answer your open questions.
Selected publications
Be smart: Benefit from the experience of our customers and concentrated GUTcert knowledge in white papers, presentations and guides on various topics.

Guide from energy management to climate management
You already have an energy management system according to ISO 50001? Then you don't have far to go to climate management: our guide shows you how to do this in a structured way - over 5 steps in 14 steps.