Part-funded mentoring and assessment support with SALSA Certification (Safe & Local Supplier Approval) is being offered to North Yorkshire businesses, with funding from the Yorkshire Food Farming and Rural Network and the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
What is it?
SALSA is a robust and effective food safety certification scheme, which is appropriate for smaller food producers and suppliers.
Approved suppliers can demonstrate that they operate to standards that are recognised and accepted across the industry and exceed the minimum standards expected by enforcement authorities.
We have teamed up with Deliciously Yorkshire (DY), to offer six discounted places for one-to-one SALSA mentoring which will take place at the business premises of successful applicants at a convenient time.
What’s involved?
Stage 1: Part-funded mentoring
A full day assessment by a specialised mentor of your food/ drink producing site, against the SALSA standard of your choice, during which your site will be assessed physically and operationally, and documentation completion is required for SALSA Approval.
In addition to the standard audit, more specific audit standards are available for cheese, beer and ice cream.
The findings of the day will be discussed and explained with you in detail and a report will be provided to give a clear path of work required by the site to where they currently are against the SALSA Standard.
Prior to the assessment visit to site, an online meeting of 30 minutes is offered by the SALSA mentor in order to gain a preparatory overview.
Stage 2: Part-funded support for SALSA assessment
When the business is ready to take the next steps and book in their SALSA assessment; which must take place within a year of the mentoring provision, successful applicants will be able to apply for their assessments to be part-funded.
What financial support is available?
Applicants will be eligible to claim back 80 per cent + VAT of the cost of SALSA mentoring and/or SALSA certification through the funds held with the Yorkshire Food Farming and Rural Network based at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
In the first instance, applicants will be required to pay 100 per cent of the cost, with 80 per cent of the costs eligible for reimbursement.
Applicants must be able to contribute 20 per cent + VAT of the cost SALSA mentoring or SALSA certification.
Eligibility
You must be self-employed or employed by an SME based in rural North Yorkshire.
This is defined as: towns, villages and hamlets with populations below 10,000 and the wider countryside; market or ‘hub towns’ with populations of up to 30,000 that serve their surrounding rural areas.
To check your eligibility, use the postcode checker on Defra’s magic map tool, here.
You do not need to be a Deliciously Yorkshire member to apply.
Further considerations
Please note, that as a business you may need further days of mentoring dependent on your business needs.
This will be discussed with the appointed suppler on your first visit.
Funding is limited and places is awarded on a first-come basis.
What rural businesses say
John Bardwell, Director of York-based Nidhoggr Mead Co. Ltd, pictured above with Nidhoggr owner Pete Taylor, said:
Sarah’s mentoring throughout the SALSA process has been absolutely fundamental to the progress we have made so far towards our audit.
She has been keen and insightful, and given feedback on all the paperwork required to pass the audit, as well as a fully tailored guidance of the rules in place and how they will affect our workplace.
Sarah has helped me change the documents we have had in place to better fit the SALSA standards and given me resources and guidance when creating new documents.
Without the support of her and Deliciously Yorkshire, it would have taken me far more time to understand and prepare for this audit.
I cannot overstate just how much the guidance has helped to prepare us, and would thoroughly recommend the SALSA Mentoring programme to other new businesses seeking to pass their SALSA Audit.
How to claim part-funded support?
Please fill in the application form.
Applicants will be required to Pay 100% of the cost, with 80% of the costs eligible for reimbursement. Terms and conditions apply.
Mentoring and Assessment support with SALSA Certification must be booked and paid for directly with the appointed suppliers and will be reimbursed by the Yorkshire Food Farming and Rural Network once the mentoring or assessment has been completed.
Please note, this is a limited opportunity.
Deadline: Rolling
Interested, but not based in North Yorkshire?
For those businesses outside North Yorkshire, please get in touch with hollyj@yas.co.uk to discuss alternative opportunities.
This opportunity is funded by
