Seachill Information
100% traceability for Seachill
Seachill is one of the UK’s leading fresh fish processors. Founded in Grimsby in 1998, Seachill is the standalone seafood division of Hilton Food Group plc.
Spanning 5,500²m, its factory is believed to be one of the most advanced in Europe and processes orders for some of the UK’s largest retailers.
Sustainability is critical for Seachill and the company works exclusively with suppliers with access to MSC-certified seafood or those in fisheries improvement programmes. Its systems need to ensure traceability of produce right back from its factories to the farm or the boats that supplied the fish.
The 100% traceability imperative
Every day, Seachill is responsible for processing and packing thousands of product units, including for its product brand “The Saucy Fish Company”, the and each has very specific label data requirements. As for all fish and seafood processors, Seachill has to comply with both legislative requirements for traceability information and the latest Fish Labelling Regulations that specify the information that needs to be declared on retail packs.
Angela Simpson, Technical Systems Manager at Seachill, explained its importance to the business:
“100% traceability is essential in order to meet requirements set by retailers, the government and our affiliations to best practice schemes. Failure to ensure accurate label data can be devastating to a business and may ultimately lead to an emergency product recall, fines, damaged customer relationships and reputation damage through press coverage.”
With Integreater’s unique run marker codes in place, the complete product journey can be easily traced from its ocean of origin, right through to the supermarket shelf.
In 2009, to ensure that the processes and governance were always in place to meet its stringent legislative and customer requirements, Seachill invested in Integreater® from Systems Integration. Integreater® has been programmed to optimise Seachill’s traceability for its purchasing, goods received and packing operations. It works by ensuring that any produce which enters the factory has a unique code called a ‘run marker’. This means that the complete product journey can be easily traced from its ocean of origin, right through to the supermarket shelf.
Safety nets
Integreater® reduces the risk of inaccurate labelling, it features a series of ‘safety nets’ immediately alerting operators to any errors. As legislation changes and has to be adhered to, Integreater® keeps up and ensures Seachill’s labelling remains compliant.
