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Costco Wholesale Admission

Entrance of a Costco Wholesale store – TÜV NORD Cert approval required for suppliers

Approval for US retailer Costco

US wholesale chain Costco Wholesale is one of the leading grocery retailers in the cash and carry sector, with total net sales of around US$222.7 million in 2021/2022. [Source Statista.com]

As a potential supplier, you have the opportunity to benefit from this success story. Costco places the highest value on food safety and establishes strict guidelines and audit requirements. In doing so, Costco ensures that they only offer premium products in their shops. These requirements are integrated into the food safety standards of IFS, BRCGS, FSSC 22000 and SQF through special Costco modules.  

TÜV USA is recognised by Costco as a globally valid certification body. Together with the qualified auditors of TÜV NORD Group, it carries out supplier qualification in all branches according to the strict Costco criteria. In doing so, we ensure that your products meet the highest standards and fulfil Costco's requirements.

Request your Costco Wholesale offer here

Target group

All manufacturing companies in the food and beverage industry along the entire production chain in Europe and the USA must implement HACCP. However, an HACCP certificate is also very important for other countries, especially for all companies that export abroad.

Advantages of the COSTCO Admission:

  • You will be listed as a Costco supplier and therefore have permission to supply to Costco wholesale stores
  • You reduce the need for additional audits
  • You demonstrate effective quality management throughout the production process
  • You demonstrate effective controls over your change management
  • You create trust with your customers
  • Internationally recognised

How to get the Costco Admission

1

01

Offer and contract phase

2

02

ATEA procedure (for non-critical sites)

3

03

Audit preparation

4

04

Audit implementation

5

05

Veto procedure

6

06

Preparation of the final report including Costco requirements

Final report on the status of Costco requirements

We would like to point out that no separate certificate is issued for the Costco requirements. Instead, our auditors carefully document the Costco requirements in the audit report of the respective standard.

Options for COSTCO suppliers

If you are interested in being listed at Costco, you have three options to choose from:

  1. An audit involving a Costco GFSI Additional Requirements checklist, must be combined with a GFSI standard and the entire audit must be unannounced annually. They cannot be conducted separately.
  2. The Costco Food Safety Audit is a One-day Unannounced audit that must be conducted separately from a GFSI audit within a 90-day window around the dates of the previous year’s GFSI audit. It is an alternative to suppliers who do not want to undertake annual GFSI audits.
  3. The Costco Small Supplier Audits are for sites with fewer than 25 employees who have not previously completed a 3rd Party food safety audit. These audits are always announced. These audits are intended as an introduction to Costco’s food safety program and are performed on a “One-time-only” basis. All subsequent audits completed for Costco must be either a Costco Food Safety audit or another approved audit standard.

Special requirements from Costco

Requirements that have to be met for Costco Wholesale in Germany and are not mapped in the GFSI standards are for example:

  • Testing by Costco-approved, trained employees
  • Cost and time savings through joint auditing as a Costco supplier
  • Market access to the American and Canadian retail trade as a Costco supplier
  • Worldwide auditing/certification of locations possible

Frequently asked questions on the COSTCO Admission

The Costco Wholesale modules are specially developed and provided for suppliers of the wholesale chain. They complement the IFS, BRCGS, FSSC 22000 and SQF food safety standards with Costco-specific requirements.

In the individual standards, the Costco modules provide for the following additional requirements.  

IFS: Personal Hygiene; Foreign Body Management; Purchasing; Traceability; Product and Process Analysis.

BRCGS: Traceability; Environmental monitoring; Product control and laboratory testing; Protective clothing for production workers.

FSSC 22000: Pest control; supplier approval; hand washing stations; use of gloves; traceability; foreign body management

All suppliers seeking Costco approval must notify us in advance which food safety standard (IFS Food, BRCGS Food Safety, FSSC 22000, SQF) they would like us to audit to. This is a prerequisite for an unannounced Costco Wholesale audit.

The Costco GFSI Additional Requirements Checklists were developed for sites who manufacture product intended for Costco use. 

The scope of the Costco Audit applies to sites that manufacture, process, and package “Own Brand” or “Costco Branded”, (Kirkland) products for Costco Wholesale.  A statement can only be made about the audited site and only products supplied to Costco Wholesale.

We are here for you!

Philipp Nahrmann

Philipp Nahrmann

TÜV NORD CERT
Sales Certification Food/ Near-Food
Tel.: +49 (0)521 786-327 / foodcert@tuev-nord.de
Send Email
Christian Kienzle

Christian Kienzle

TÜV NORD CERT
International Sales Manager
Tel.: +49 160 8883919 / foodcert@tuev-nord.de
Send Email

Costco approval from TÜV NORD CERT: Your benefit

TÜV NORD is one of Costco's recognised certification bodies and operates globally in conjunction with our subsidiary TÜV USA, which facilitates daily interactions directly with Costco Wholesale and their suppliers.

TÜV NORD CERT is an established, globally active and reliable partner for inspection and certification services. Our experts and auditors have many years of experience. This guarantees independence and neutrality and promises continuous support. The advantage for you: TÜV NORD is internationally positioned and enjoys worldwide recognition. Our auditors have in-depth industry knowledge and interdisciplinary thinking.