There have been considerable changes in the concept of quality control in recent years, moving from product quality, which consumers can judge for themselves, to a more widespread quality assurance process involving methods for keeping track of customer enquiries, inspecting processes, corrective and preventive actions and stricter controls on raw materials.   The various factors that are taken into account correspond to the introduction of and compliance with procedures designed to give customers confidence not only in the products manufactured by the company but also in the way it operates and is organized. Since 1993 most of the production facilities have received ISO 9002 certification for the manufacture, packaging and sale of cheese. HACCP procedures are also widely used.   In addition Fromageries Riches Monts make a point of organizing regular tasting sessions. Board meetings start with an update on quality assurance. To achieve more widespread reliable quality control, panels have been set up with expert tasters. This approach has been applied to all Fromageries Riches Monts production facilities. Over a hundred people have received specialist training and can now detect tiny variations in the flavour or texture of a product and describe it.   Tasting sessions are held once a week in each factory to test our products and those produced by our competitors. We then compare all these results with a standard product defined by the marketing department and validated by consumer panels.