Alabama Processor Provides Shrimp to US Military
“The military will only buy 100% Grade A, and as a result of meeting these very high standards, our shrimp go all over the world to the U.S. military."
Sea Pearl in Bayou La Batre, Alabama is known for setting the standard for quality Gulf shrimp processing. Since their inception, they have made themselves open to third party inspections and were one of the first in the country (plant number 121) to open themselves up for the U.S. Department of Commerce voluntary inspection program.
This family-owned business, owned by Greg and Jan Ladnier (who work alongside their grown children Shawn and Megan), is proud to sell only wild-caught Gulf shrimp. In order to provide assurance to its customers about where their shrimp are harvested and processed, Sea Pearl has been a member of the Gulf Seafood Trace program for several years.
The Ladnier family runs this operation as the only Gulf shrimp processor that is both Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and Quality Management Program (QMP) certified in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s (USDC) NOAA Seafood Inspection Program. Attainment of these certification programs mean that Sea Pearl has achieved the pinnacle of quality management designations by those entities responsible for inspecting all seafood plants in the United States.
These designations also mean that their quality record is so impeccable that Sea Pearl’s products may bear USDC Inspection Marks of U.S. Grade A, and/or Processed Under Federal Inspection (PUFI) marks without having a full-time inspector in their plant. Their employees regularly attend special USDC certified training programs to maintain this certification, and the company can boast that they have “never failed an audit.”
“The military will only buy 100% Grade A, and as a result of meeting these very high standards, our shrimp go all over the world to the United States military,” says Greg. “Our commercial customers have come to realize and appreciate the quality shrimp that result from following these stringent quality guidelines. They also know that they are going to get exactly what we tell them they are getting. We wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Sea Pearl is a fine tuned machine whose management and employees successfully blend all of these variables, all of the ups and downs, into a successful business day-in and day-out. Through their motto “we like to see you impressed,” they never lose sight of the end goal – pleasing their customers with quality product.
Read more about Sea Pearl, here.
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