Examination of raw materials in the laboratory
Quality control in the laboratory

Quality

Our quality philosophy

Our animal feeds are an important part of the processing chain from selected raw materials to food ("feed for food"). As a feed manufacturer, we are aware of our responsibility as part of the value chain. In order to fulfil this responsibility and to guarantee the high quality and safety of our products, we rely on comprehensive quality management to control internal processes from the purchase of raw materials to the provision of advice to our customers.

It is this quality philosophy that makes us the market-leading private compound feed producer in Germany.

This is what our quality management system (QM system) entails:

  • Carefulselection of raw materials and suppliers as the basis for the production of high-quality animal feed. In terms of quality assurance across all stages, we work exclusively with certified suppliers. In addition to a regular supplier evaluation, we also rely on a risk-oriented, supplementary supplier audit according to defined criteria.
  • Comprehensive, risk-oriented monitoring in the raw materials and finished goods area. The individual analyses are carried out both by our in-house, modern feed laboratory and by external, accredited laboratories.
  • The use of energy-efficient, state-of-the-art production facilities with a high degree of automation. Regular monitoring of the technical equipment and continuous control of process safety are an important part of our QA system.
  • The high qualification and continuous training of our employees.
  • Internal and external quality audits including voluntary certification by various independent organisations such as QS (Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH) and KAT (Verein für kontrollierte alternative Tierhaltungsformen e.V.) as well as participation in other regional and national quality programmes. In addition, all processes from the receipt of raw materials to the finished feed are subject to regular official controls.
  • Compliance with our comprehensive company-specific HACCP concept (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points).

The continuous documentation, monitoring and optimisation of all quality-relevant processes.

Learn more about the processes to ensure our product quality

We receive raw materials from numerous suppliers. In order to be able to take into account both positive and negative incidents with these suppliers when placing orders, these are recorded in the form of an evaluation in the digital supplier file. In this context, an evaluation is also carried outusing a points system. Negative incidents that are included in this evaluation are, for example, bumped deliveries of goods due to beetle infestation or stocking. Positive incidents include the provision of raw materials required at short notice outside the usual order deadlines.

Thispoint system is used to classify suppliers into categories "A" to "D". When checking the delivery authorisation of a supplier, the classification is also displayed to the buyer and can thus be taken into account accordingly when selecting suppliers. A poor classification can lead to a warning, additional requirements or even the delisting of the supplier.

Especially in the feed industry, there is a large number of raw material sources and suppliers. This is also the case at Deutsche Tiernahrung Cremer. As an importantcontribution to feed safety, several suppliers are audited on site every year. The selection of the respective suppliers to be audited is risk-oriented. An important selection criterion is the group of raw materials sourced from the respective suppliers. The aim is to cover as many raw material groups as possible and to audit them regularly.

The audits are carried out according tofixed questionnaires prepared in advance. The audit includes adocument check as well as an inspection of the production site and a review of the production processes. The supplier audits thus provide animportant insight into the production processes of the upstream suppliers and thus form an important supplement to the regular supplier assessments.

At Deutsche Tiernahrung Cremer, both the raw materials and the finished goods undergo extensive monitoring according to fixed test plans. The test plans not only fulfil the specifications of thevarious certification systems, but also go beyond the requirements.

An important part of our monitoring is theanalysis for undesirable substances and contaminants in both raw materials and finished goods. This includes, for example, analysis for mycotoxins, heavy metals, dioxins or salmonella. In addition, our test plans also include the analysis of quality-relevant parameters such as a comprehensive nutrient analysis. For the implementation and control of our routine test plans, we use anautomated laboratory information and management system. Due to the high degree of automation, this serves not only to reduce errors, but also to process information and evaluate results. In the area of finished goods testing, our facilities also haveautomatic samplers, so that possible sources of error can also be excluded in this area. Our raw material and finished product inspections are supplemented byexternal analyses as part of regular official inspections.

In the raw goods receiving area, every delivery of raw goods is sampled. Even before the raw materials are received, compliance with important contract conditions is checked. For example, asensory inspection of the raw goods is carried out beforehand. In addition, furtheranalyses are carried out prior to acceptance, such as an examination of the grain intake for grain impurities, the examination of the hl weight and the moisture. This means that potential deviations from the standard quality can already be detected before the raw materials are accepted. During harvest time, our raw materials also undergorisk-oriented and close-meshed monitoring.

We also work according tofixed inspection plans in the area of finished goods inspections. This involves checking for the presence of possible contaminants as well as the composition of value-giving parameters. The routine examination criteria within the scope of acomprehensive nutrient analysis include, for example, the analysis of the proportions of crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, ash, starch and sugar. In addition, our finished products from the VLOG range are also tested for their GMO status according to fixed test plans.

HACCP, short for "HazardAnalysis and Critical Control Points", describes a company-specificself-checking system for hazard analysis and control of critical control points. Originally, the HACCP system was developed in the 1960s on behalf of NASA. The aim was to use this method to produce safe astronaut food that was harmless to health. Today, this system is used to ensure food safety at all stages of production.

This hazard analysis systematically looks at all process stages, from the purchase of raw materials to the loading of the finished products. Potential hazards with regard toproduct safety are identified at all process stages, and preventive measures to control them are derived from this and integrated into the QM system. The aim is to exclude health hazards for humans and animals throughpreventive control measures.

For us at Deutsche Tiernahrung Cremer, the HACCP concept is thebasis of our quality management system. Each of our production sites has its own specific HACCP concept, which is regularly checked to ensure it is up to date and adapted as necessary. In this way, we guarantee thesafety of our feed as thebasis for good quality.

The raw materials for our feeds are selected according to strict quality criteria. All processed products go through acompany-internal approval procedure. Our raw material specifications are sent to our dealers and suppliers in advance. In addition to basic legal requirements, these specifications contain additionalinternal quality requirements. The specified parameters are checked in the raw material receiving department, in our internal laboratory at the Düsseldorf site and by commissioning external laboratories.

Only the highest quality orientation leads to sustainable feeding success

Together with our customers, we are convinced that only a high quality orientation leads to sustainable feeding success. Therefore, it is both a claim and an obligation to offer our customers products that:

  • optimally cover the nutritional requirements of the animals
  • guarantee a consistently high quality
  • are accompanied by feeding advice tailored to the needs of the individual customer, and
  • are available at a fair market price.

An important part of our daily work is the competent and practical advice we give our customers.