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FETZER VINEYARDS' QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
EARNS ISO 9000 CERTIFICATION
First North American Winery to Obtain Certification
Hopland, Mendocino County, CA (November 12, 1999) - Fetzer Vineyards,
America's sixth largest winery, has just received certification
that their Quality Management System meets the Quality Management
System Standards of ISO 9001:1994. The certification was granted
by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance Limited of Houston, Texas
for the Fetzer, Bonterra, Mariah, and Bel Arbor wines in North America,
Japan and the United Kingdom. Fetzer is the first North American
winery to receive this certification.
The ISO 9000 family of standards represents an international consensus
on good management practices with the aim of ensuring that the organization
can time and time again deliver the product or services that meet
the client's quality requirements. The standards give organizations
guidelines on what constitutes an effective quality management system,
and models against which this system can be audited to give the
organization and its clients assurance that it is operating effectively.
The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide
federation of national standards bodies from some 120 countries,
one from each country. Its mission is to promote the development
of standardization and related activities in the world with a view
to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services,
and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific,
technological, and economic activity.
The ISO 9001 certifies a company's business management system in
twenty subject areas, including those related to infrastructure,
management, continuous improvement, product life cycle, and supporting
activities that will nurture ongoing growth and improvement within
the company. The application process, which included initial preparation,
employee training, process documentation, internal audits, and implementation,
represents over two years of work involving almost every department
within the company.
Along with meeting the needs of the winery's customers, especially
on an international level, Fetzer found many inter-company benefits
of going through the ISO 9000 certification. "We now have better
systematic inspection, increased employee participation, improved
productivity, reduction in error-related costs, and improved communications,"
said James Sobbizadeh, Director of Production for Fetzer Vineyards.
"We have achieved a higher level of quality, both in terms
of our wines and our workplace environment."
Fetzer Vineyards, located in southern Mendocino County, California,
was founded by the Fetzer family in 1968. Fetzer's premium varietal
wines, including Valley Oaks(tm) Cabernet Sauvignon, Eagle Peak(tm)
Merlot, and Sundial(tm) Chardonnay are among the best selling wines
in America. The winery was purchased by the Brown-Forman Corporation
(NYSE: BFB) in 1992. For more information on Fetzer Vineyards, please
visit their website, www.fetzer.com.
Contact:
Sid Goldstein 415/444-7441 or 800/945-9463, x7441
Sid_Goldstein@B-F.com
or Sara Moore Cummings
415/444-7426 or 800/945-9463, x7426
or Sara_Cummings@B-F.com
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