NorthSeafood News

First graduates MBO-education from NorthSeafood Academy

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:25:00 +0100

Last March, the first employees of NorthSeafood successfully completed the course MBO CGO-1. This training focuses on several areas within the food production, such as: quality, hygiene and machine operating. The course trains the employees to become professional machine operators.

"The chance to follow this training is a unique opportunity. It offers the possibility for the employees of NorthSeafood to make a positive contribution to the production process. And an additional advantage is that we also earn a MBO diploma, "says Klaas Kramer, employee at NorthSeafood.

After completing this course, the employees of NorthSeafood are continuing with the next course MBO CGO-2. This is the extension from the first course. The training lasts 30 months. Once successfully completed, employees will earn a MBO-2 diploma. 42 employees of NorthSeafood are participating in this program.

The courses of the NorthSeafood Academy are co-financed by the ESF-D subsidy.

NorthSeafood receives environmental permit.

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:59:00 +0100

The municipality of Urk has issued an environmental permit to NorthSeafood last Monday. The company had submitted an application for this late September. After meeting the requirements for the permit, it was granted.

At first the municipality had to determine which methods and installations NorthSeafood had to use, but with this permit NorthSeafood is free to choose which methods are being used to meet the environmental requirements. NorthSeafood is the first company in Urk who receives this permit.

The presentation took place at NorthSeafood where Alderman Gerrit Post handed the permit to Lubbert Schenk, CEO of NorthSeafood.

"We are very pleased with this permit, this permit indicates that we have a good relationship with the municipality of Urk, and also we can now determine ourselves how we want to meet the environmental requirements," said Lubbert Schenk.
_{Gerrit Post (left) hands the permit to Lubbert Schenk, CEO of NorthSeafood}

'Meeting keeps fishing and processing companies focused.'

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:53:00 +0100

“We have to work together to ensure the high quality of our product. The quality of our final product can be led back throughout the processing chain.” says Dubbele Janson, Quality Controller at NorthSeafood. That’s the reason why NorthSeafood had a meeting with a fishing company called The Plaice Group. The Plaice Group is fishing company with several ships which has a contract with NorthSeafood for plaice size number four.

The meeting is an initiative of NorthSeafood and aims to improve the quality of the fish and ensure efficiency. Together with the fisherman solutions and innovations are created. For example: placing of sensors within the fish that are monitoring the temperature throughout the whole process in order to ensure the optimal temperature during processing.

During the meeting, Janson explained the influence of hygiene and weather conditions on board of the ships. “Ultimately we have a common goal and that’s to provide the costumer with a high quality product”, concludes Janson.

30th year anniversary NorthSeafood

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:27:00 +0100

2012 is the 30^th year anniversary of NorthSeafood. In 1982 NorthSeafood was founded by Johannes Schenk. These days his son Lubbert Schenk is leading the company.

NorthSeafood processed mainly cod in the early years, today plaice is the main product. NorthSeafood produces for major retailers in countries like Sweden, England, Austria, Italy, Spain, France and Germany.

With about 130 employees NorthSeafood has become a serious player on the European retail market. In recent years several key innovations were made. Employees are better trained, machinery renewed and waste prevention has become an important goal for NorthSeafood.

In all those years, even in tough times NorthSeafood has proven to be a stable and reliable partner. Working together with major brands has meant that there is a strong focus on quality, care and innovation.

NorthSeafood closes agreement with Dutch tax administration.

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:28:00 +0100

The Dutch tax administration and NorthSeafood closed an agreement with each other last week. The mutual cooperation will be based on the principal ‘horizontal supervision’ This means that the cooperation is based on mutual trust. The cooperation is founded on clear agreements and clearly defined responsibilities.

This agreement shows the confidence the Dutch tax administration has on the financial side of NorthSeafood. In this new form of cooperation the Dutch tax administration doesn’t audit NorthSeafood anymore, they will be working from a consultant approach. By large investments NorthSeafood will consult the Dutch tax administration.

Results in waste prevention

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:32:00 +0200

Waste prevention is one of the most important goals of NorthSeafood. Throughout the World Class Manufacturing (WCM) process that began in 2009, NorthSeafood created different teams to work on solutions to produce more effective. One of these teams achieved a good result last week.

The WCM project is part of the "Nor Vuren" project from NorthSeafood which is co-funded by the ESF-E subsidy.

The team reduced packaging waste from 10% to 5%, so packaging waste is reduced by half. Team member Teun ten Napel (Technical Department): "In this group the different departments of NorthSeafood work closely together to find solutions to solve problems" A big advantage of this approach is that problems are solved better and faster.

Lubbert Schenk (CEO): "Waste prevention, it has two advantages: it reduces the negative environmental impacts and saving packaging means saving costs." This approach takes NorthSeafood one step closer to her objective: producing a sustainable product.

Positive result in annual IFS audit

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:19:00 +0200

With an amazing score of approximately 97 percent NorthSeafood meets the requirements of IFS again. After a thorough audit of two and a half days IFS gave a positive result. The Higher level certificate is not easy to achieve for every company. Companies need to gain a score of 95 percent or higher to meet the strict requirements of the certificate.

"Compared to last year, we improved in hygiene, quality, we improved all across the board," says Pieter Kapitein, chief quality control at NorthSeafood.

Machinery NorthSeafood ready for new season

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 15:17:00 +0200

Each year the technical department of NorthSeafood plans during the summer period major maintenance of the machinery. This maintenance cannot take place during production hours. This way the technical department of NorthSeafood keeps the whole production process in optimal shape, allowing the production staff of NorthSeafood to reach full production capacity. NorthSeafood and her employees are because of this annual maintenance ready for the next season.

NorthSeafood focuses on ´plaice of the future'

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:02:00 +0200

"In the cafeterias of universities is barely any fish on the menu. Even if there were fish, it is often from other countries. Not the most sustainable fish, "says Jacob Kramer, chief financial officer of NorthSeafood." We want use this subsidy to focus on plaice concepts, from our 'own' sea, which are tasty and healthy," explains Kramer. "Compared to fish from far away countries, plaice is less damaging to the environment. It is transported over a short distance and sustainably caught.”

For this project to succeed, NorthSeafood works with a number of fishing companies, the North Sea Foundation, LEI Wageningen and “plaice think tanks” to present plaice as a modern and sustainable product. Goal: to get the attention of costumers by presenting plaice as a tasty and healthy product. This project is part of a EU co-funded project called "Trendy Plaice".

NorthSeafood is not the only company that has been receiving a subsidy. Within the fishing industry a total of 25 applications were approved. The projects are financed by the European Fisheries Fund. This subsidy will contribute to innovation, sustainability and cooperation within the fishing industry.

Indonesian delegation visits NorthSeafood

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:16:00 +0200

The delegation included members of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, port authorities and tuna exporters. Part of the lecture was the visiting of Urk. This was a chance to visit NorthSeafood. The main goal of the visit was to exchange knowledge in the field of sustainability and quality.

Lubbert Schenk, CEO by NorthSeafood presented the company. The delegation was given the opportunity to be shown around the produce facilities of NorthSeafood and learning about the importance of sustainability and quality for NorthSeafood.