Quality Management

Quality Management is not an isolated activity that can be carried out from the confines of the office, rather quality checks have to be made at each and every step of the process. Such a policy ensures that at any stage if the product does not meet the quality requirements it can be discarded and corrective measures taken there and then.

Quality Management at Indway occurs at every step, right from procuring the raw material to shipping it out. Conforming to these Standard Quality Procedures has helped Indway in producing the finest organic mango puree.

The Quality Management Process

Farm/Grower selection

• One of the most important steps in Quality Management is to find out whether they are from genuine organic farms.
• We work with farmers & farm groups and help and assist them in solving their problems.
• It is also important that the quality of mangoes determines taste and flavour of puree. Hence we work in specific area for each variety of mango
• We source Alphonso mango from Ratnagiri area of Maharastra, and these are separated from other Alphonso mangoes from the South India. Kesar is from Kutch area of Gujarat and separate from that from Maharashtra and Totapuri comes from Tamil Nadu
• Mangoes thus sourced from farmers of a specific geographic region specially selected by Indway. As the quality of the puree is different from every region, it is separately processed & offered to customers. Eg Alphonso from Ratnagiri area is never mixed with the Alphonso from the south of India. This because Indway believes that the Alphonso from Ratnagiri is superior to that from the south of India and this is priced higher too for a premium product. Similarly Kesar sourced from Gujarat is separately processed from the Kesar sourced from other regions and is priced higher too.

The process consists of:

• Careful selection of farmers who are keen to adopt organic farming
• Training the farmers in methods and practices of organic farming as laid down by Apeda, the central Govt agency in India promoting organic agriculture. Conducting of tests to analyse fertility of soil (pH test and heavy metal test) and health of trees by assessing the quality of its leaves, flowers and fruits.
• The farming practices of these farmers are then monitored for a stipulated period of time and if they are found to be satisfactory they become a part of the supplier chain of Indway
• Farmers are also assisted in acquiring necessary certifications, setting up efficient logistical bases and are given premium prices for their produce. All this keeps the farmers motivated in continuing with organic farming and Indway International!

Factory Processes:

• The procured mangoes are sent by road to the processing centre. Only sound and mature fruits are selected at harvest.
• On receipt at the centre, each fruit lot is tagged for traceability and stored in ripening sheds
• Traceability systems ensure that every lot and batch can be traced back to individual growers.
• After ripening, good fruits are selected for further processing in batches.
• Whilst processing, strict quality control is adhered as per global quality systems (HACCP and ISO systems).
• Each batch of puree undergoes strict laboratory analysis on physical, organoleptic, chemical, heavy metal and micro biological parameters.
• We also send samples from batches to independent laboratories for cross checking of the factory laboratory results.
• The packed products are kept in hygienic conditions on wooden pallets and kept for a week under quarantine before despatch. This ensures any deviations or defects which may have occurred due to processing and packaging material inefficiencies.