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Extra Fresh, part II |
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Archives -
2007 Archive
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Written by B. Tyril
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Monday, 21 May 2007 |
Invested with a new method for securing maximum freshness, Rainbow Seafood not long ago established itself quickly as a leading exporter of fresh fish — then moved on to include fresh fillets from its own processing facility, continuing its run of success.
Rainbow Seafood’s fast growing business activities in the Faroes were again taken a leap forward when the company through its subsidiary Greipan set up a filleting operation at Oyndarfjörđur, not far from Eiđi where much of the sourcing activities are taking place. With the range of products extended from various species of fresh iced whole fish to fresh chilled fillets of cod, haddock and monkfish tails, Rainbow is poised for another round of rapid development.
The company also trades Atlantic salmon products in international markets, as fresh iced round salmon and fresh iced fillets of salmon. These products are sourced in Faroe, Norway, and Scotland.
According to Rainbow Seafood managing director Regin Mikkelsen, the company’s UK subsidiary, now three strong, has had a very successful 2006, in line with the rest of the organization, which currently employs a total 45 people.
Rainbow’s acclaimed quality standards — known from its fresh fish business at Eiđi, operated in conjunction with the Bátafiskur cooperative — are maintained throughout the organization, Mr Mikkelsen says.
“When it comes to filleting, the difference is of course that the process is taken one step further.
“Therefore it entails a few different routines and some extra rigorous measures to balance the effects of processing; but the basic idea is the same as with the fresh whole fish — securing maximum freshness from the outset and throughout the chain, until the product arrives at the client.”
After the joint venture with Bátafiskur became public knowledge, a few others sought to copy the recipe of securing “extra fresh” fish. The recipe however may have proved difficult to replicate — after all, it had taken Rainbow Seafood years to develop and fine-tune its product quality system.
For many, the business in Eiđi still has all the makings of a good story. After all, it’s easily related to helping local day boat fishermen improve their results in terms of higher job satisfaction through higher product quality, and hence higher pay, in addition to improved safety at work.
Says Mr Mikkelsen: “It would raise a few eyebrows here and there, which is not strange, considering the smallness of the Faroese community.”
So the very name of Bátafiskur became loaded with something… new and fresh. But why all the fuzz?
“Maybe it’s just plain curiosity at play,” Mr Mikkelsen adds. “I mean, we created a different quality system, one that works exceptionally well. It became a popular subject.”
Icy seawater: That quality system is multi-layered and covers everything from sourcing management including at-sea and onshore hygiene policies — all mandatory — through safety regulations and clear guidelines for ensuring the highest degree of freshness, to handling, grading and final shipment.
At the core of the system is the consistent use of seawater-based slush ice in clean and containers covered below deck. The only fishing method accepted is longlining and trip lengths are not allowed to exceed 24 hours.
The fish caught is — immediately after taken aboard — bled, gutted, cleaned, and placed into the slush ice container down below. To make the time frame of at-sea fish handling process short and improve safety, there is a minimum requirement of two persons on each trip.
Seawater based slush ice is believed to chill fish very effectively and quickly, allowing for stable, cool water temperatures that stay at around 0 centigrade or even drop slightly below, without freezing; such temperatures are seen to reflect the real-life temperatures of groundfish ecosystems in waters around the Faroes. The ability of such cool seawater to keep the fish fresh lays the basis for supreme product quality.
“What we have is an unbroken refrigeration chain,” Mr Mikkelsen adds.
“The fish doesn’t leave the slush ice container before it’s in the grading process at our HFS [Food, Veterinary and Environmental Agency] certified facility in the harbor area.”
Immediately after grading, the fish is placed in top iced 40-kilo boxes, ready for refrigerated shipment.
With fish traceability ensured by way of standard requirements, every shipped box of seafood carries a great deal of product origin information. At the onshore handling facility, a computerized grading system registers where and when each fish was caught and by which boat, to guarantee full traceability on every box.
Link to pdf presentation...
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