Scottish Seafood Association (SSA) is delighted to have supported Bannerman Seafoods, which gained SALSA accreditation recently.
Based in Tain, Highlands, Bannerman Seafoods is a family run business that produces high quality breaded seafood and peeled scampi tails to the UK food service/wholesale & export markets. The firm started in the 1960’s and enjoyed steady growth over the years.
Ross Bannerman, Managing Director, of Bannerman Seafoods said: “We had considered SALSA accreditation over the years, but there never seemed to be the right time to fully commit to it. We had made a start to it on a few occasions over the years, however the day to day running of the operation took priority and it was just something that became aspirational rather than a possibility.
Our customers were happy with our product and there seemed no reason to embark on the journey of external accreditation, which we knew would be both challenging and time consuming.
With the Covid-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020 our business was hit dramatically as food service closed and our orders dropped off. As we looked for new business, it became clear that having SALSA accreditation was critical for the growth of the business, as prospective customers required it as part of their procurement process and we were unable to trade with them until it was in place.
We therefore decided to become members of the Scottish Seafood Association, as we were aware that they had successfully supported similar businesses on their journey to SALSA accreditation and hoped they could support us too.
Jean Meikle, Technical Training Manager at Scottish Seafood Association gave us as much support as we needed; she was easy to speak to and provided us with the skills and documentation we required to successfully meet our goal.
We are absolutely delighted to receive our SALSA Accreditation Certificate. We cannot thank the team at Scottish Seafood Association enough for all their support.”
Bannerman Seafoods received guidance throughout the whole process, including receiving documentation, training, and advice on good manufacturing practice, hygiene, and how to deal with an audit. Jean Meikle comments: “It was a pleasure to work with Ross Bannerman and the team at Bannerman Seafoods. They really engaged fully with the process and took ownership of the documentation straight away, ensuring it was tailored specifically for them.”
Support was provided initially online via Zoom and then continued by carrying out a gap analysis of existing documentation. The company already had records in place, which were working well for them, so these were incorporated into the Quality Management System provided by SSA.
Although much of the communication for this support took place online, it was necessary to see the production site and process itself, so site visits also took place, even during Lockdown. Ross Bannerman and the staff on site ensured there was a safe working environment for a visitor to the site.
SSA congratulates Bannerman Seafoods on its achievement in gaining SALSA accreditation.
SSA provides a range of support packages to help its members. There are various business areas we can provide help with, including training, quality systems, documentation and support to work towards site accreditation. If you would like to find out more, please contact us
