We strive for quality and food safety, which are the foundations of the reputation capital of our banners and the sustainability of our activities.
The Quality and Food Safety Guidelines describe various aspects of the products we sell, in line with the following policies:
We invest, certify and monitor our processes, facilities and equipment.
We perform regular analyses on our in-store products and equipment in order to comply with our Policies and international standards.
We build our employees' ability in order to have effective control over the quality and safety of our products.
We audit our stores and Distribution Centres based on international reference standards in the area of Quality and Food Safety.
More than 8,500 audits were carried out on stores and Distribution Centres in 2017, which include internal, follow-up and external audits.
In 2017, the following certifications were renewed/maintained:
In addition, we perform analyses on work surfaces, equipment and product handlers, and on air and water when applicable, aiming to control microbiological risks. Using accredited external laboratories:
We invest in building the technical ability of our employees in Food Hygiene and Safety in order to ensure the effective control of our products.
In 2017, we carried out more than 112,000 hours of training on food safety divided among 31,937 employees, an increase of more than 20% and around 11% respectively, compared to 2016.
The 2017 data referring to products health and safety impacts was verified by an external and independent entity in the context of the Group’s 2017 Annual Report.