HOW TO OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN QUALITY

The policy for quality improvement must be focussed on strengthening the whole chain, from variety selection to consumption. The first step is to obtain varieties that possess strong characteristics for quality.

Enhancing the potential quality by the introduction of better varieties, will only lead to a better realized quality when the growing conditions for realizing this are optimal, which implies sufficient knowledge about the relation between the growth factors and the internal quality. A more systematic study of this relation is desired. To be sure that products with a better internal quality at harvest will show this quality when arriving at the consumer, the loss of quality during the post-harvest period must be restricted by shortening the period between the harvesting and selling date by the retailer, and by optimizing the conditions during marketing and transportation. This can be done by strict control of the post-harvest conditions that the ornamentals are subject to on their journey to the consumer, and by dating our products on day of harvest. To avoid failures at the consumer, a set of short, clear instructions on their care, should be attached to the products.

In order to test the quality in each link of the chain, methods to measure the status of the quality at each stage must be developed and described.

Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files)