Our Mission Statement

“QIS strives to improve quality throughout the entire meat industry by working with our clients and maintaining uncompromising ethics and integrity.”

 

Our Story

Charlie Drumheller

Charlie Drumheller has been active in the meat industry since 1971 when he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Charlie entered the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps Food Inspection section. He was responsible for inspecting both troop issues and commissary food products for compliance to specifications and the sanitation of the commissary food preparation areas. In 1974, Charlie joined The Kroger Company at the Salem, Virginia meat processing plant. He became the Quality Assurance Supervisor for the facility, reporting to the corporate office in Cincinnati, Ohio. During that time, Charlie drew on both his education and his experience in the food inspection arena, developing new programs for the company. One such program was the receiving inspection audits that, more than thirty years later, are still an integral part of the meat receiving functions at The Kroger Company. Charlie was then promoted to the Manager of Quality Assurance for the company’s Meat Plant Operations. In this corporate office (Cincinnati, Ohio) position, he managed approximately thirteen Quality Assurance Supervisors in the various meat plants and conducted most of the new meat product projects for all plants. Charlie later became Manager of Boneless Meat Procurement in which he purchased all the ground beef for the company.
 
In June of 1988, Charlie left The Kroger Company, moved back to his family farm, and started a consulting business, Quality Inspection Service (QIS). The Kroger Company remains one of the highest priorities for QIS. Other companies QIS is consulting for include Wal-Mart and Sam’s Clubs, Safeway, Food Lion, and American Foods Group. The areas of consulting range from the fore-mentioned receiving inspection function, sanitation audits, and HACCP instruction to case-ready packaging projects, specification writing, and special program audits.
 

In 1996, Charlie and his business partner, formed a meat processing company of their own. This company, M/S Technologies, specializes in case-ready, further processed, value-added meat items primarily for retail grocery stores. Beef Products Venture in Roanoke, Virginia is partially owned by M/S Technologies and provides both marinated and ready-to-cook meat items. They have supplied such companies as Sam’s Club, The Kroger Company, Food Lion, Shoppers Warehouse, and numerous military commissaries. Sales approximated $9 million in 2008.

During Charlie’s career in the meat industry, he’s visited most of the major beef and pork packers processing facilities. He has also worked with representatives from throughout the industry, including academia, laboratory testing personnel, and USDA and State regulatory officials. Charlie’s agricultural background, extensive work with meat processing facilities, long tenure with the retail meat business all provide a unique set of experiences to draw upon. Charlie was appointed by Governor Warner in 2003 to serve on the Virginia Beef Industry Council as the packer representative and subsequently elected Chair in 2006. He currently serves as Virginia’s representative to the Meat Export Federation Board of Directors. 

Charlie Drumheller has developed a tried and true specification and sampling plan that has been utilized by major supermarket chains for over 23 years. It not only evaluates the inbound meat products for critical information for standard receiving, but evaluates the product utilizing Industry accepted sampling plans but creates a proactive outcome that has been accepted by the largest meat fabricators in the industry. Both the supermarket industry and the meat fabricators trust the fair and consistent programs instituted by QIS.

Charlie Drumheller has served as a qualified Expert in providing professional credible testimony in cases involving quality issues in the meat industry. 

A native and resident of Swoope, Virginia, Charlie, his wife, Vicki, and his two sons own and operate his 365-acre family farm. He is active in his church and, along with his wife, served as the senior high youth advisors for over ten years. His younger son, Bobby, graduated in Agriculture Economics at Virginia Tech, helps administer the Soil and Water Conservation Programs on local farms, and assists on the family farm. His older son, Billy, also graduated from Virginia Tech in Electrical Engineering and is working in the Washington, DC area.

 

Our Customers