Answered same day
The SQF audit and the customer request cleared without a scramble
Customer story
Anonymized food manufacturerSQF audit window
An SQF audit, answered from source evidence
A food manufacturer used Valent to keep supplier approvals, certificates, and lot evidence current and mapped to each SQF and customer requirement. When a supplier certificate was expiring before the audit and a customer asked for allergen, origin, and specification evidence, both were answered from source documents, and FSMA 204 traceability records stayed producible on request.
A gap at an SQF audit or a slow answer to a customer can put a retailer relationship at risk. Keeping the evidence current meant both the audit and the customer request were answered the same day, from source.
Supplier readiness
Food supplier approval fileSUP-104Pacific Grain Co.GFSI renews in 42 daysApproved · 98%
SUP-211Northstar DairyInsurance certificate expiredReview · 74%
SUP-328Verde OilsOpen corrective actionBlocked · 61%
GFSIFSVPCAPA
Straight from source
Every packet line traced to a current supplier document
Nothing sent unapproved
Every supplier chase and customer response waited for review
Customer context
What had to change
Context
The site was preparing for its SQF audit against the Code Edition 9, the GFSI-recognized standard it certifies to. A supplier certificate was expiring inside the audit window, and a customer running its own BRCGS program asked for allergen, origin, and specification evidence. Supplier approvals and lot and traceability records were spread across email threads, shared folders, and spreadsheets, and because some ingredients were imported, Foreign Supplier Verification Programs records sat in yet another place.
Before Valent
Before Valent, the expiring certificate would have surfaced late, during audit prep or after the customer asked. Building the allergen, origin, and specification answer meant reopening files supplier by supplier, and the lot and traceability records were scattered enough that a FSMA 204 request would have started a scramble.
Outcome
When the SQF audit and the customer request arrived, the team answered from current source documents instead of rebuilding. The certificate had already been renewed, the allergen, origin, and specification evidence was mapped to each requirement, and the FSMA 204 traceability records were producible on request.
What Valent did
The work became a controlled evidence workflow
Valent mapped requirements to source evidence, queued the right reviews, and kept the final release record intact.
How Valent helped
Kept supplier approvals and certificates current and flagged the expiring certificate before the SQF audit window opened.
Mapped allergen, origin, and specification evidence to each SQF requirement and to the customer's request.
Linked lot and traceability records to their traceability lot codes across the relevant critical tracking events.
Held every supplier chase and customer response behind human review before it left the company.
Preserved the source document and approval trail behind each answer.
Workflow in place
Supplier evidence intake organized certificates, approvals, allergen statements, origin records, and specifications.
Monitoring surfaced the expiring certificate and any missing records before the audit window opened.
Human review turned drafted supplier chases and the customer response into approved, logged actions.
Traceability records stayed linked to their lot codes and key data elements, ready as a sortable spreadsheet if a FSMA 204 request came.
What the team had afterward
Supplier approval recordCertificate freshness monitorRequirement-mapped evidence setLot-linked traceability recordsHuman review approval log
Why it mattered
“We renewed the certificate before the auditor asked for it, and the customer's allergen and origin evidence came out of the same records instead of a fresh hunt.”
Food safety and quality manager, anonymized food manufacturer
See how Valent would keep your SQF and FSMA 204 evidence current before the next audit.
Bring your current packet, supplier evidence list, and next audit window. Valent can show where the workflow becomes observable, explainable, and controlled.
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