Kalaneuvos receives the esteemed BRC Global Standard for Food Safety certificate
Kalaneuvos Oy has been awarded the international BRC Food Safety certificate. The BRC audit was carried out on Kalaneuvos according to the latest BRC Food Safety version 8 audit criteria. BRC Food is the globally best known and most comprehensive standard and quality system governing food quality and safety. Kalaneuvos achieved the excellent BRC Grade AA level in the February 2021 audit.
“We have been systematically building our operations to meet the increasingly strict global food safety requirements. As a demonstration of this, we were awarded the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety certificate on 22 March 2021,” says Veijo Hukkanen, Managing Director of Kalaneuvos Oy.
A large-scale investment of EUR 30 million in a plant extension in 2019, together with the renovation of the old facility, helped Kalaneuvos meet the requirements of the certificate. The fulfilment of strict food safety requirements was already taken into account when planning the investment. Special attention was paid to people’s access to the production plant, the material and product flows, and the efficiency of production equipment.
“Kalaneuvos is committed to continuous development, product safety and quality at every stage of the production chain. Production employees play a key role when producing high-quality and safe food. We constantly train our staff and develop our operations. Our whole personnel is committed to the Kalaneuvos food safety policy and its quality objectives. We obtained the BRC Food certificate largely thanks to our personnel who have adopted the requirements of the standard as part of their daily work and observe them diligently,” says Susanna Viitaniemi, Quality Manager at Kalaneuvos.
The BRC food safety certificate replaces the company’s earlier FSSC 22000 food safety system. The ISO 14001 environmental management system has been used as a tool for environmental management since 2003, and it continues to be in effect.
Kalaneuvos was the first Finnish food company to be certified under the international ISO 9002 standard in 1995. In 2003, the certification was extended to comply with the ISO 9001 standard, and the related management system is still in operation.
The BRC certification is trusted on the international market
The BRC standard is well known all over the world, and it supports the growth targets of Kalaneuvos in the export of fish products. A company possessing the BRC certificate is communicating that its products are reliable and safe. The BRC certificate has a strong reputation on the export market, and it supports the export targets of Kalaneuvos in both Europe and Asia.
The first version of the BRC standard (previously British Retail Consortium, today Brand Reputation through Compliance) was published in 1998 to provide instructions concerning the compliance of manufacturers’ products, and it has been continuously developed over the subsequent 23 years to match the development of the industry. The BRC standard and certification promote the achievement of good product quality, safety and functionality for both consumers and the food industry. It promotes safe food production and the selection of reliable suppliers. BRC is originally a standard established by the British Retail Consortium for retail trade suppliers. It has subsequently spread to wide use all across the world.
More information:
Veijo Hukkanen
Managing Director, kalatalousneuvos (Finnish honorary title)
Tel. +358 10 4111 410
veijo.hukkanen@kalaneuvos.fi
kalaneuvos.fi
Susanna Viitaniemi
Quality Manager
Tel. +358 10 4111 416
susanna.viitaniemi@kalaneuvos.fi
kalaneuvos.fi
Kalaneuvos Oy is a family-run Finnish company that has been producing high-quality fish products since 1975. The company operates in Sastamala, Turku and Kaskinen. Kalaneuvos is a pioneer in fish processing and the wholesale, import and export of fish, as well as fish farming in Finland. The company develops, produces and markets premium fish products under the Kalaneuvos brand and private label brands for supermarket chains. Skilfully processed fish grown in clean Finnish waters, both farmed and wild, as well as the best imported raw materials, guarantee high quality and an unsurpassed taste.
The Kalaneuvos Group subsidiary Martin Kala Oy is based in Turku and Kaskinen. It is the largest Baltic herring fillet manufacturer in Finland. The group’s turnover surpassed EUR 88 million in 2020. The Kalaneuvos group employs 181 people. The companies process more than 12 million kilos of fish annually. Kalaneuvos Oy and the Hukkanen family of entrepreneurs also own the Nordic Fish Group and its subsidiary Nordic Trout, which focuses on fish farming, with more than 30 locations in mainland Finland, Åland and Sweden. In 2020, the turnover of the Nordic Fish Group was EUR 29 million. The fish farming group employs approximately 100 people, processing roughly 10 million kilos of fish annually. Together, the companies owned by the Hukkanen family are the largest operator in the Finnish fish industry.