German warewashing specialist Winterhalter Gastronom was awarded comprehensive international management certification for quality, environmental protection and occupational health and safety by the Swiss Association for Quality and Management Systems (SQS) in November 2010.

Winterhalter is one of the first companies in the industry to earn comprehensive certification for quality management, environmental management and occupational health and safety.

Certification according to the standards EN ISO 9001 (quality management), EN ISO 14001 (environmental management) and BS OHSAS 18001 (occupational health and safety management) is internationally recognised and gives customers the peace of mind that Winterhalter meets the highest of standards in terms of quality, environmental protection and occupational health and safety. These criteria are becoming increasingly important for a growing number of customers internationally, especially major customers.

Jürgen Winterhalter, owner and CEO, is delighted by the certification: “I am pleased that our enormous efforts, especially in environmental protection, have now been officially recognised. We invest a lot of time and money in making our warewashers as energy-efficient as possible. We have managed to reduce electricity, water and detergent consumption to an absolute minimum, which benefits our customers as well as the environment.”

Ralph Winterhalter, also owner and CEO, added: “In addition to our machines, our detergent and rinse products as well as our complete production process are also designed with sustainability in mind. We have developed detergent products that combine maximum effectiveness with high levels of sustainability. During production we make sure to use resources carefully and that our processes are environmentally friendly. We also select our suppliers based on very specific criteria.”

Paul Anderwert from SQS, who was responsible for facilitating the certification process, praised the management system at Winterhalter for exceeding the average and complying with the highest standards. “These achievements would never have been possible if the management and employees were not equally behind the objectives,” stressed Anderwert.