In the area of quality management, our goal is to ensure that goods sold in our stores – both branded and private label goods – have a consistent, high level of quality. To this end, X5 set up the Quality Control Department that applies a process-based, systematic approach to quality control and employs modern control methods such as laboratory testing, external audits of producers and measures aimed at product quality improvement.
The Company has local quality control departments in all regions in which we operate. Quality control managers were trained in accordance with ISO 9001:2008, ISO 22000:2005 International Quality Standards. Professionals working in these departments include technologists specializing in various food categories, merchandise specialists and certified quality experts.
Our quality control team actively engages in every stage of a product life cycle – from sampling at the time of product introduction to incoming inspections at our distribution centres to working directly with producers on quality improvement. The Company invests in laboratory tests of food products so that our customers can be sure that they purchase safe and highquality goods in our stores. X5 does not cut corners when it comes to protecting the health and safety of our customers.
Quality Control at All Stages of the Product Life Cycle
Product Introduction
Before any supply contracts are signed, our suppliers submit samples of their products to the Quality Control Department, where our experts check the products’ compliance with current legal requirements. Often at this stage the Company rejects goods raising suspicion as possibly counterfeit and goods that do not contain required consumer information or lack documentation certifying their safety and quality (conformity certificates or declarations, state registration certificates, etc.).
Inbound Inspection at Distribution Centres
Each lot of food product received at a distribution centre is subject to quality control by a number of sensory characteristics, such as look, consistency, taste and odor. Quality of fruits and vegetables (including exotic varieties) is checked in accordance with the national standards of the Russian Federation, European standards (UNECE), X5 Quality Catalogue and approved acceptance criteria (size, maturity level, etc.). Based on this evaluation, if any suspicions arise as to the possible poor quality or counterfeit origin of the goods, a rejection is made in the presence of the supplier’s representative or, in the case of long distance supplies, sample products are sent to certified external centres for testing and the lot is retained in custody until the test results are received.
In-Store Quality Control
At the beginning of 2008, Х5 introduced the “Quality Hour”, which now takes place in each of our stores every day between 9:00 and 10:00 am. During this time, store employees sort fresh fruits and vegetables and check all the goods on the shelves to see if any of them are expiring or have visual defects.
Addressing Customer Complaints
Our Customer Complaints Department closely analyses each logged complaint. In some cases, it makes sample purchases of a particular product to verify information received. Samples are tested externally, and based on the test results, the Department will submit a claim to the producer as needed or take measures to improve quality control in the store if appropriate.
In-House Product Evaluation
As our business grows, in-house tasting and expert evaluation of private label products becomes more of a challenge. To date, products have been sampled by specialists in this segment – the technicians of the Quality Control Department, or specialists and managers of the Commercial and Marketing Departments – who formed tasting groups of five to seven people. However, the situation is changing with the expansion of our business and growth in private label sales.
Only a year ago, we had to evaluate five to ten private label “candidates” per week – however, since the introduction of electronic bidding, that number has increased to 300 per week in certain categories. As a result, in 2010 we sent over 3,000 food and non-food products to certified testing centres and set up an internal tasting commission. The commission members – X5 employees who completed special questionnaires and tests – were divided into groups by taste preferences, age, sex and income. The tastings are held anonymously, and all products are de-identifi ed and numbered, in order to eliminate any psychological influence of a well-known producer or brand. The products are evaluated by taste, color, odor, consistency and appearance.
It is very important to also involve members of our target demographic in tastings – shoppers who come to our stores every day. For this reason, X5 utilises external organisations, such as ROMIR, to help study preferences through tastings in shopping malls. In organising these tastings, we take into account many factors, such as age of participants (for example, 50-year old people still remember the “old” taste of cheeses and sausages), their income (a person who cannot afford to buy caviar or expensive sorts of fish would not differentiate tastes of such products) and sex (tastes differ quite substantially between men and women).