The demands placed on the quality of food and beverage services are constantly increasing. The main reasons for this development are the increased demands of guests, stricter regulations under political law, and growing competitive pressure in the out-of-home catering sector. Against this backdrop, certification can make a valuable contribution to sustainable quality assurance and quality improvement in catering establishments and also enable a positive differentiation of one's own range of services from those of competitors.

Through the certification concept "Excellent Community Catering", all essential catering areas in community catering can be certified. In addition to company restaurants (Business), this also includes hospitals and retirement homes (Care) as well as daycare centers, all-day schools and university dining halls (Education). The certification concept enables a comprehensive and holistic analysis and evaluation of the catering in the respective community catering facilities.

In addition to ensuring that the food and beverages offered are wholesome and nutritionally balanced, emphasis is also placed on ensuring good hygiene at every stage. The evaluation of the ambience, the presentation of the goods, the quality of the food, the service or the complaints management system are further criteria used to measure the quality provided. In addition, other important areas that are often not directly perceptible are also checked. These include the increasingly important ecological aspects, occupational health and safety, and the ongoing continuing training of all employees. It is characteristic that the often "hidden" requirements contained in the respective laws and regulations (e.g. occupational health and safety law, hygiene regulations) are identified and broken down into comprehensible questions for the company. This "translation" of the relevant legal requirements is a special feature of the certification concept and thus a valuable support in achieving legal certainty.

Specific questions were developed for each test object in the community catering sector (Business, Care and Education), which are compiled in a checklist with around 250-400 questions each. The cooperation company, TÜV Rheinland Cert GmbH, is responsible for the actual certification and the corresponding certification audits on site. In a preliminary step, a structured self-audit is also carried out in the community catering operation using the checklist provided. For some very important questions, the submission of corresponding receipts is also required. Examples are the weekly meal plans, the HACCP concept and the cleaning and disinfection plans. These documents are checked in advance for completeness with regard to important criteria. Certification is completed with an on-site certification audit and attested with a certificate. Regular re- and maintenance audits ensure comprehensive quality assurance and continuous quality improvement over time.