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QS-report:
fruit, vegetables, potatoes l issue march/2015
QS expands networks in southern Europe
Since 2013, the number of Spanish pro-
ducers has increased by 140 percent. Work
on site is supported by a total of four Spa-
nish certification bodies, 26 coordinators
and five laboratories with QS recognition.
QS is responding to the growing demand for
trained auditors by continuously expanding
its range of training courses in foreign lan-
guages. For example, two auditor training
courses were conducted in Madrid for the
first time at the beginning of 2015.
Miguel Manzano, Quality Manager of the Unica Group
QS-REPORT
Fruit, Vegetables, Potatoes
Dear Readers,
with the QS-report published twice
a year, we offer you an up-to-date insight into the QS scheme’s
work and inform you about practice-related topics for the fruit
and vegetable industry. The topics of this issue are the increasing
availability of goods from southern Europe, a mandatory logistics
standard, opportunities in regional marketing, changes resulting
from the revision, laboratory performance assessments in the QS
scheme, and lots more information related to quality assurance in
fruit and vegetables.
The editorial team would be pleased to receive questions and sug-
gestions on the QS-report to
presse@q-s.de.
We hope you enjoy reading! Your QS team.
The number of QS-certified companies
abroad is growing steadily. Particularly
in Spain, more and more companies are
showing interest in a QS certification. The
latest example is the Unica Group, whose
aim is to register all approximately 1,100
of its producers with QS in the near fu-
ture. This will enable the availability of QS
goods for food retail in the Spanish season
to be improved further.
„With the expansion of QS certification to
all of its companies, the Unica Group is ai-
ming to improve the quality and safety of its
products and to offer its customers a better
service by meeting the requirements of the
market”, explains Miguel Manzano, Quality
Manager of the Unica Group.
The Unica Group,
founded in 2009 as
a second-grade co-
operative, is one of
the largest co-operatives in the country.
It currently comprises seven producer or-
ganisations, some of which have already
been QS-certified for some time. The in-
dividual producer organisations produce
goods in Almeria, Granada and Murcia.
The Unica Group can therefore offer a
wide range of products, made up of fruit
and fruit vegetables, such as cucumbers,
peppers, courgettes, tomatoes, lettuce,
cauliflower and broccoli, as well as sugar
melons and watermelons. The goods are
produced through conventional, integra-
ted and organic cultivation.
• Editorial
• Availability of QS goods: On the road to
success in Spain
• QS Standard Logistics: Important contribution
to complete quality assurance
• QS in Dialogue: Looking back on the
Fruit Logistica 2015
• Laboratories under examination: Residue
monitoring in the QS scheme enters its 10th year
• Regional Marketing: QS audits on traceability
recognised
• Revision 2015: Focus on goods separation
and sprout production
• News in brief
Contents
Editorial
Availability of QS goods
On the road to success in Spain
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