Three True North Salmon processing facilities have been certified for food quality and safety by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the global leader in product safety and quality certification.
The True North Salmon whole fish processing facility in Blacks Harbour, NB, the processing facility in St. George, NB producing, fresh fillets, portions and tray packed products and the Atlantic Fish Specialties facility in Charlottetown, PEI, producing cold and hot smoked salmon and trout were certified to the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety this week after an extensive audit process.
True North Salmon Company is the processing, sales and marketing division of New Brunswick-based Cooke Aquaculture Inc.
“This is great for us as a company but the big winners here are the people who eat our fish and the retailers and chefs who sell it,” said Cooke Aquaculture, CEO Glenn Cooke.
“The BRC certification is known and trusted around the world and it offers confidence to consumers that the facilities that process their food meet the highest standards.”
The BRC publishes a set of standards that meets or exceeds all the requirements set forth by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). The BRC Global Standard is a leading product safety and quality certification program
used by manufacturers in over 100 countries.
The BRC is committed to continuous improvement of its food safety standards and demands the same improvement from the facilities they certify.
The BRC certification complements the Seafood Trust Eco Label and Certified Quality Salmon certifications Cooke has already achieved for these same facilities. Seafood Trust Eco certification is another level of assurance with a focus on environmental performance.
As increasing numbers of retailers in Europe and North America demand thirdparty certification of the companies that supply them, the BRC has emerged as a trusted, independent certification source. Many retailers and brand owners throughout North America and Europe will only consider business with suppliers who have earned the appropriate BRC certification.
“Seafood vendors, chefs and families all want to know more about how their food got to their store or their plate and they want the assurance that a third-party certification can provide,” said Alan Craig, VP Sales for True North Salmon.
“Certification through the BRC is extremely helpful for our True North Salmon division because the audit process tells us what we’re doing well and where we can improve. Our teams are very proud of this certification because it’s an acknowledgement of a job well done. This is a big deal for us at Cooke and for True North Salmon and our customers,” Craig said.
The Blacks Harbour facility is the first stop in the processing line for True North Salmon’s farmed salmon. Once harvested from the ocean farms, the salmon goes to the Blacks Harbour facility for cleaning and dressing. The whole fish are then sent to the True North Salmon value added facility in St. George where they are cut into fresh fillets, portions and tray packed products. The facility also adds spices and flavouring to some of those products. Atlantic Fish Specialties in Charlottetown is True North Salmon’s smoked and specialty seafood products facility where smoked salmon and other ready-to-eat foods are made.
“The BRC standards for ready-to-eat products are extremely tough, and they should be,” Cooke said. “So we’re really proud of the Atlantic Fish Specialties team, and all our teams, for this achievement.”
ABOUT BRC GLOBAL STANDARDS
The BRC Global Standards are a leading global safety and quality certification program, used throughout the world by over 17,000 certificated suppliers in 90 countries through a network of over 80 accredited and BRC recognized
Certification Bodies. The BRC Global Standards are widely used by suppliers and global retailers. They facilitate standardization of quality, safety, operational criteria and manufacturers’ fulfillment of legal obligations. They also help provide protection to the consumer. www.brcglobalstandards.com
ABOUT COOKE AQUACULTURE
Cooke Aquaculture Inc. is an east coast family-owned company based in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick with operations in Atlantic Canada and Maine. The company’s sales and marketing division, True North Salmon, sells a broad spectrum seafood products into the Canadian and US markets including fresh fillets, portions and tray packed products as well as cold and hot smoked salmon and trout.
Over the past twenty-five years the Cooke family has built a fully integrated aquaculture company with more than $500 million in annual sales and management over its entire salmon farming value chain – from egg to plate. Cooke also owns Salmones Cupquelan, a salmon farming company in southern Chile, sold under the Heritage Salmon Brand in North America and Culmarex Group, a sea bass and sea bream farming company in Spain. www.cookeaqua.com
Source: Cooke Aquaculture