Quality and Innovation

The quality system

Customer satisfaction is our first priority. This is the mission that Caffè Mauro aims to achieve and the Company has developed a painstaking quality system to make it happen. Hence every single stage in the Caffè Mauro production process is subject to strict controls, carried out with professionalism and accuracy to ensure quality and goodness every time.

Since 1999, the quality system has been structured in compliance with UNI EN ISO 9001: 2000 standards. In 2009, the Company received an upgrade of the 9001: 2008 standard integrated with a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, with the result that all the controls executed now follow detailed predefined procedures.

Control of standards
Research and Development
Aiming for Excellence

Controls begin from the moment the raw materials are purchased, which happens only if the supplier is included on the "qualified suppliers" shortlist in accordance with the standards defined by Caffè Mauro.

Even the receipt of raw materials undergoes numerous specific laboratory controls which help to ensure that the product is of an adequate standard. During the production process, Quality staff carry out audit checks to ensure that operators are properly implementing the self-monitoring system. Before being stored in the warehouse or sent to the customer, the product is subjected to a final series of checks, including: tasting by a panel of experts, colour, moistness, caffeine, chlorogenic acid, theobromine, theophylline, granulometric analysis, water-soluble extracts, fats, ash, proteins, carbohydrates, volatile aromatic substances, sterols, terpenes and so on – all designed to verify compliance with legal requirements and quality standards established by the company.

As part of the strategy adopted for following its path to excellence, Caffè Mauro has chosen to consider research and development as one of its pivotal areas. The aim of this area is in fact to maintain a high level of innovation in all aspects which are directly and indirectly involved in the production process for roasted coffee and other Caffè Mauro products.

The Innovation Board is a committee of experts working in the Raw Materials area which is responsible for the research, tasting and cataloguing of new coffees, with the dual objective of creating new blends and refining existing ones. The aim is to enrich the aromas and sensory experience of the finished product.

Through LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) studies, Caffè Mauro carries out research on eco-friendly packaging. This work also focuses on the environmental impact of each stage of packaging material production, until the time of their disposal.

The Quality Assurance Area on the other hand focuses on the implementation of procedures which follow the strict dictates of the ISO9001: 2008 standard. With the use of BAT (Best Available Technologies), it periodically reviews business efficiency, always ensuring that production performance is maintained at a consistently high level.

The Environmental Area studies environmental impact. The focus is on both the direct impact of Caffè Mauro activities within its production site and indirect impact involving the product after it has been marketed. The use of BAT ensures continuous research into green technologies which could reduce environmental impact as well as atmospheric pollution, through checks on consumption of electricity and water resources, waste recycling and corporate supply chain management to reduce emissions on deliveries to distributors.

By virtue of the Company's ambitious goals geared towards achieving excellence, Caffè Mauro strengthened the quality area in 2009 by developing procedures in all business areas which have a direct and indirect impact on the transformation of the product and on the services offered to customers. The strategy adopted foresees an increase in the investment focused on innovation.

As far as control standards are concerned, Caffè Mauro has developed a series of specific analytical methods (partly with the help of university partnerships) which allow for more than 100 different product controls.

Caffè Mauro has also carried out a significant expansion of the laboratories with the purchase of modern analytical equipment such as a gas chromatograph, a high-resolution liquid chromatograph and a granulometric laser device.