POSTED APR 3, 2018

Quality Assurance

At Cento, we don’t cut corners when it comes to producing consistent, premium quality products. We don’t sell anything that we wouldn’t serve to our family and we would never sacrifice quality when it comes to our customers. It is our mission to proactively serve our customers by providing exceptional products, improving the cost effectiveness and quality of our products through our team of committed employees who maintain a quality and service-oriented attitude. A family owned and operated company for three generations, know that you can always “Trust Your Family With Our Family”^®.

A Leading Authentic Italian Brand

Cento is recognized as a leading premium quality authentic Italian brand preferred by the finest chefs across America. Our extensive quality assurance specifications ensure that each item is produced to our proprietary standards to yield a consistent, premium quality product. Each item that comes through our facility first makes a stop to the Cento Test Kitchen and our Quality Assurance Lab. Random pieces are taken from each “lot” of a specific product that comes into our facility. The lot code is a number assigned to each particular batch of an item, which can be based off the quantity, production date, or the crop’s harvest. We test every single lot that comes through our facility to ensure that our products are always premium quality and consistent in texture, performance, appearance and taste. If a product doesn’t pass our rigorous tests, we don’t release it for sale.

The Cento Test Kitchen and Quality Assurance Lab

The Cento Test Kitchen and Quality Assurance Lab are outfitted with the finest professional equipment in the culinary industry, as well as the latest innovations in food science technology and quality assurance tools. Each item is tested in both the kitchen and lab for different qualities to meet our proprietary specifications. Our QA testing process begins in the Cento Test Kitchen with our Executive Chef for organoleptic and performance testing. Organoleptic assessment involves testing aspects of the products via the senses, including taste, sight, smell and touch. Chef Cento first uses his senses to analyze the product’s texture, taste, appearance and aroma, while ensuring that the above qualities match our proprietary specifications. Once product passes both qualitative and sensory testing, Chef Cento then tests each item for yield and performance, as well as completes a time study. Yield testing includes matching up the item to our proprietary specifications and performance testing includes using the product in a recipe to ensure consistency, taste and quality.

Qualitative Testing

Once the organoleptic and performance testing portion of our Quality Assurance analysis is complete, the product then moves to our Quality Assurance Lab for qualitative testing. In our Quality Assurance Lab, our food scientist and quality assurance team use professional equipment and qualitative evaluations to identify and analyze the product’s chemical, biological and physical properties. Color consistency, tomato solids, and viscosity of liquids are just a few examples of the tests carried out in our lab.

Extensive Quality Assurance Practices

Our extensive quality assurance practices aren’t just to ensure our products consistently meet our standards and proprietary specifications, they were also put in place so that each item can be assessed for any improvements, innovations, or new standards. If you have any questions regarding the quality or use of our products, please visit our F.A.Q. page. If you can’t find the answer to your question, or you feel as though a product isn’t up to our high-quality standards, please contact our Quality Assurance Team through our Product Concern form.