METRO tasting laboratory

All METRO’s own brand products are not only tested in terms of quality, the company's employees evaluate the taste characteristics of products in a special tasting laboratory.

METRO Chef brand goods are also evaluated by leading Russian chefs, as these products are created by experts for chefs.

Purpose of the laboratory

Before reaching store, all METRO's own brand products are checked by the quality department. An important part of the assessment is conducting tests in the sensory laboratory: it is there that the most delicious juice or the richest ketchup is selected. This laboratory was launched several years ago, here experts, chefs and employees of the company try products that are planned to be sold in our stores.

Such tastings are called organoleptic (or sensory) analysis. Using their senses, participants and employees of the laboratory check taste, smell, color, texture, and even what sound the product makes. For example, whether chips are crunchy, whether chocolate melts in your mouth, whether pickles smell delicious.

METRO has sensor laboratories in 14 countries around the world. The first was launched in Düsseldorf, where the company's head office is located. There, colleagues test METRO’s own brands products that are sold in stores all around the world. For example, olive oil or coffee.

Laboratory in Russia

In the Moscow laboratory, they taste products that are sold specifically in Russia. METRO focuses on HoReCa customers, so professional chefs are often invited to the tastings. Unlike the office team, they have a slightly different task: they are asked to check whether the product is convenient to be used in their work. And job of the office team includes at least three stages:

Benchmarking. Samples from different manufacturers are compared to a reference / standard and a decision is made which one should be on the shelves. Then the selected partner undergoes a full audit and prepares a test batch.

Control sample analysis. Before the product goes to the shelves, different characteristics are evaluated - net weight, acidity and amount of sugar, etc. Such tests are part of the tender and development of own brands products.

Testing and evaluation of products taken from the shelf for compliance with the requirements of the specification (all key characteristics).

METRO's contribution to the product quality assurance

METRO Fish and Seafood Procurement Policy

METRO takes seriously the quality and origin of its own brands products. Certification and indicating the place of catch of fish or seafood on the package are not mandatory in our country. As METRO strives for extended responsibility in the area of rational natural resource management, a number of regulations regarding fish products have been developed.

Own Brands

METRO works directly with the manufacturers while developing own brand products. The company independently forms requirements for product quality, composition, and packaging. Thus, there was made a decision to reduce sugar and salt in own brand products, and eggs from cage-free chickens were added to the assortment.

Quality control of METRO fish products

Before products reach the shelves of METRO stores, they are being delivered from the supplier to the distribution center, then there is the process of acceptance and quality control, after witch single batches are formed and shipped to the stores. Let’s have a look at how the Fish acceptance platform works in the distribution center.

Quality management system in METRO

METRO has developed a quality and food safety management system that covers the entire supply chain: from interaction with manufacturers and suppliers to the selling process and interaction with customers. Such approach guarantees safety of food products, and therefore the health of the customers.