In order to reassure consumers, concerned with food safety issues, the German retailers established a certification scheme covering the whole food supply chain. It ranges from agriculture production to retail sites, including feed manufacturers. The certification system QS is based on a clear statement: “Good for the consumer. Good for business”

Those who contribute to the production, processing and sale of food have a collective responsibility towards the consumers’. It is QS members’ goal to regain and strengthen consumer trust with proper and high-quality production of their food.

QS stands for a quality assurance scheme – across all stages. All companies that are active in the QS system are working towards a common goal within an association for active consumer protection. More than 100.000 companies have so far joined the program. The system covers the feed sector, the fruit and vegetable sector, the meat sector, and the retail sector.

Food safety and quality at the consumer end of the supply chain is the result of food handling / processing at each step of the supply chain. A systematic quality assurance across all stages is therefore the basis to achieve the QS goal: it’s only when all segments of the food chain cooperates that the overall effort can be visible to the consumer.

Compliance with the required criteria for product and process requirements is checked regularly in a three-stage control system. The first level is the company's internal control: every system partner sets up an internal control system for its company, including statutory requirements, which guarantees reliable and comprehensible production at all times. The internal control system is regularly verified through independent certification bodies which is the second level of the control system. At the third and last level, the entire QS system and the work of the certification bodies are monitored: the controls themselves are verified.