Quality Assurance - "the managing, implementing & reviewing of systems & procedures to ensure our products reach the customer a the required specification for the ultimate enjoyment of the consumer"

Quality Assurance can be broken down into 4 vital areas & these are;

  • Goods In control
  • Production controls
  • Goods Out controls
  • Traceability
Each one of these key areas is strictly monitored and all procedures reviewed at regular intervals.

Goods In control
All deliveries to Abbey View Produce are from pre-approved growers, all of which undergo full auditing by our Technical team. Each pallet of produce to enter our packhouse is sampled and a written report filed. Any problems are brought to the immediate attention of the QA manager, whose job it is to decide the best course of action, whether it be rejecting or re-grading. By having a strict 'stop & search' policy at the Goods In, most QA problems can be eliminated from entering any further stages of the supply chain.

Production controls
All production is constantly monitored by a team of QC staff. Their role is to pinpoint any problems in all areas of production. By highlighting any problems during the production stage, if an error or poor processing is spotted, it can be dealt with a lot more efficiently.

Goods Out controls
All pallets, prior to despatch are checked and if accept, signed for. Each pallet will then have a QA passed sticker with an individual identification number.

Traceability
As with all systems, unless you can act on the information received, they can become very futile. At every step of our systems, full traceability is recorded. With every finished pack providing the following information;
  1. Our supply code,
  2. Grower supply code,
  3. Machine code,
  4. Supervisor code,
  5. Time code,
  6. Display until code.
With all this information, we can trace exactly what day the pack was produced, what time it was packed, which machine it was processed on, which supervisor was responsible for that production run, which grower harvested the produce and how many packs may be affected.

There are many other areas of Quality Assurance that are considered 'Long Term' issues. The QA team conduct weekly benchmarking sessions to assess our products compared to our competitors. Abbey View also have a trained tasting panel, who's job it is each week to sample several different varieties including competitors and score accordingly. All this information is then reviewed and growers are advised of our findings and then plant accordingly.