FOOD AND HEALTH ESSENTIALS

Case study: PM-International AG

In the highly-competitive global marketplace, confidence and trust in a brand’s quality is essential. PM-International’s partnership with TÜV SÜD has helped to increase transparency in the production of the company’s diverse line of nutritional supplements, and to support its goal of consistently providing its customers with the highest quality health.

Business challenges

Founded nearly 25 years ago, PM-International is one of Europe’s largest direct marketing companies in the areas of health, wellness and beauty. The privately-held company offers its products online and through selected distributors in 34 countries, and has been named one of the top 100 medium-sized German companies for 11 consecutive years. The PM-International’s FitLine of nutritional supplements and its BeautyLine of cosmetic products are positioned in the premium segments of their respective markets, and are well-known by consumers around the world for the innovative science behind them and their consistently high quality.

Because of its commitment to quality products, PM-International manufacturers all of its products according to the strict guidelines prescribed by good manufacturing practices (GMP) applicable to the pharmaceutical industry. At the same time, as part of that commitment, the company wanted additional, independent assurances regarding the quality and safety of its products. It turned to TÜV SÜD ELAB GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TÜV SÜD, to evaluate possible third-party options for analysing specific quality parameters of selected products.

TÜV SÜD’s solutions

TÜV SÜD initiated testing on 15 different products from PM-International’s FitLine of nutritional products in May 2016. Random product samples were taken directly from a central warehouse to ensure the integrity and independence of the evaluation process. Samples were then tested for critical properties related to the value and quality of the product, such as vitamin, mineral and nutritional content, as well as microbiological properties.

The initial sampling and testing programme proved so successful that its scope was expanded just a few months later to include additional products. TÜV SÜD’s sampling and testing of PM-International products now encompasses all newly-introduced nutritional supplements, as well as product production throughout Europe and in all of the company’s target markets. In addition, consumers are now able to access online information about the parameters and frequencies of the independent testing conducted on individual products by scanning the QR code printed on the product label. This added feature helps to increase the overall transparency of PM-International’s efforts to ensure the quality of their products.

Business benefits

For Rolf Sorg, the founder and Managing Director of PM-International, the partnership with TÜV SÜD is an essential strategic aspect of his company’s mission to deliver high-quality products and to foster maximum transparency with consumers. “Customer and consumer protection agencies quite rightly demand maximum transparency,” says Sorg. “They (TÜV SÜD ELAB GmbH) are a strong, professional partner, and the external testing they conduct will further strengthen the public’s trust in us and in our products.”

Choose certainty. Add value.

Consumer trust in the products of PM-International is one of the most important factors behind the company’s success. The technical knowledge and global network of TÜV SÜD play a critical role in building this trust by ensuring consistent, reliable and meaningful evaluation of the company’s diverse range of products.

Product Quality regularly 
independently tested by 
TÜV SÜD ELAB