Grimsby, United Kingdom-based seafood company JCS Fish has become the first business in the United Kingdom to commit to the GGN aquaculture label, the firm announced on 23 September.
JCS Fish’s BigFish range will carry the GGN label, with the line’s fresh salmon fillet slated to head to market with the new seal – appearing in recipe boxes distributed by home delivery service Mindful Chef – starting this month.
The GGN label signifies that a given product has been achieved via responsible aquaculture sourcing methods. The marking indicates that JCS Fish’s production processes comply with the strict requirements of the international GLOBALG.A.P. aquaculture standard, which encompasses food safety, environmental integrity, animal welfare, and social responsibility. Moving forward, BigFish branded Atlantic salmon products will be able to carry labels with a GLOBALG.A.P. (GGN) number embossed on them, allowing consumers to verify the certified source of the product online, JCS Fish said in a press release.
“Whilst consumers are increasingly interested in the provenance of their food, there is much confusion about what constitutes a responsible choice, particularly when it comes to farmed fish,” Jack Coulbeck, commercial manager at JCS Fish said of the development. “We want to make it simple by ensuring BigFish products have a third-party certification which guarantees they’ve been farmed responsibly. The GGN label is an important tool for us to deliver on this objective for our salmon.”
“GGN.ORG stands for the idea that joint goals are achieved when all those involved work together,” added Kristian Moeller, CEO of GLOBALG.A.P., the standard which underpins the ‘GGN certified aquaculture’ logo. “Our principles of dialogue, transparency, reliability, and development have helped us support a modern form of aquaculture that is clearly oriented towards sustainability.”
Mindful Chef Co-founder Myles Hopper said JCS Fish’s new GGN status aligns well with his firm’s transparency and sustainability values.
"At Mindful Chef, we care about quality, transparency and sustainability. Sourcing ethically and responsibly is not only incredibly important to us but to our customers as well, which is why we're thrilled to be working with JCS Fish to send out the UK's first GGN labelled products in our healthy recipe boxes. This not only supports our business values, adding further credibility to our service, it also gives customers that extra knowledge on where our ingredients come from,” Hopper said.
GGN labelling will be rolled out on further BigFish brand salmon products over the next 12 months, the company confirmed.
Earlier this year, JCS Fish achieved accreditation to a new edition of the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety. The company is now among the first businesses in the Humber region to secure accreditation under the BRC’s new Issue 8 food safety standard. Auditing for the new standard began for JCS Fish on 1 February, 2019 – the same month that the company underwent its annual BRC audit, for which it received a AA Grade certificate just one week before its BRC accomplishment.
Photo courtesy of JCS Fish
