Setting high standards – and keeping to them

Which raw materials are used in a product? What are the conditions in which an item is produced? Such questions are just as important to us as the matter of a product's quality at the end of the production process. When we talk about quality, we don’t just mean the product the customer receives at the end of the process. Instead, we view quality as a holistic concept encompassing all stages of production.

Nothing but the best beans: our coffee

From carefully selecting the best beans via refined roasting processes all the way to expert preparation of drinks in our Coffee Bars – our coffees are no exception to our view of the Tchibo quality promise covering the entire production process, from cultivation right to the drink in the cup. We want to produce coffees with the highest quality and most perfect freshness, and so we only select the best beans: Tchibo Arabica. If we wish to meet the standard we have set ourselves – providing our customers with the best-quality coffees year in, year out – we need to take the greatest of care all the way along the value chain: from selection of coffee beans at source, to transport, roasting, and packaging. To us, top quality doesn’t just mean the sensory characteristics of the coffee, siuch as taste and aroma, but also encompasses environmental and social aspects of its production.

To help us do justice to our standards, we have laid down comprehensive requirements for raw and roasted coffee qualities for our company, which are binding across all countries and sales channels. This set of “coffee regulations” includes such components as the Tchibo Coffee Standards, quality requirements for raw coffee and quality requirements in the area of sustainability. We aim to keep at all times the quality promise we give our customers, and to continuously improve on it.

Robust processes, uniform standards, independent testing:our consumer goods

Our products are developed in-house by Tchibo experts and produced exclusively for us. Contracts with our suppliers contain the quality requirements we expect them to meet, which lay down binding stipulations regarding both the strict regulations on harmful substances and conditions for production workers. We are convinved that only robust processes and clear standards along the entire value chain will guarantee the highest levels of quality and safety.

Furthermore, every single product series produced by us undergoes a precisely defined testing process. You can find an example of a test report here (download test report). This example contains all the quality requirements and testing criteria applied to a “magic pen” set for children; they were set down as binding before production began. Using these criteria, comprehensive tests are carried out to ensure that the product meets all our requirements, in matters such as safety, levels of harmful substances, robustness or characteristics of materials.

In our consumer goods quality management department alone, more than 120 employees across the globe dedicate themselves every day to ensuring our strict criteria are met. In addition to our own extensive monitoring, independent certified testing institutes carry out all required safety investigations and tests for harmful substances.Our high standards are summarised and symbolised by our seal of quality, “Tchibo Certified Merchandise” (TCM),with which we guarantee that products made exclusively for Tchibo feature outstanding product quality, that the materials used in them are selected with care and that production is carried out to a high standard.

Our guarantee and goodwill promises: above and beyond legal requirements

If ever, in spite of our high standards, a customer should not be satisfied, we are ready, with our guarantee and goodwill promises that go above and beyond legal requirements, to proactively meet their needs and to show them that they can rely on Tchibo quality.

Tchibo’s quality promise includes avoiding cruelty to animals

We reject cruelty to animals.For this reason, we employ only by-products of food production in items produced using down, feathers and leather. For years now, we have adhered to our resolution to exclude fur products from our range.