The aim of the Technical department is to ensure that Farne develops and manufactures safe, high quality products to meet our customer’s specifications. At Farne we operate the ISO 9001: 2000 quality management system and implement HACCP system within the context of good manufacturing practices.

The technical department consists of 30 to 40 staff all involved in helping production and sales staff to deliver a high quality and a safe product to our customers.

Technical staff will ensure that we follow our agreed specifications by carrying out checks on product quality and monitoring the process and production environment.

Key performance indicators are used within the business to measure performance.

During a typical day technical staff will measure and record temperatures, swab equipment and environment, weigh packs to ensure compliance to legislative requirements, take samples of products for micro biological analysis, ensure salt levels are within acceptable range, carry out product sensory evaluation panels.

Sensory evaluation panels are an important function to verify the quality of our products in terms of packaging, presentation, texture and taste. Technical staff join production and sales staff from factory floor operatives to Managing Director on a daily basis to assess the quality of products. Only by tasting our products and continuously monitoring them can we be confident in delivering our customer’s requirements.

Traceability from farm to fork is vitally important in the modern food market and we at Farne can trace back all ingredients in our products. In fact we can go back to the parents of the eggs from which the fish were hatched.

Our “in house” laboratories are certified to the “Campden Lab Accreditation Scheme” and carry out a range of chemical and microbiological analyses.

We risk assess and analyse our raw materials to minimise the chance of introducing contaminants into our factory and products. As the fish moves through the smoking and production processes we take samples to ensure that everything is as it should be and that the levels of salts, moisture and smoke in the products are correct. In our added value and delicatessen products we carry out a wide range of checks on the work in progress and final products to make sure that they are perfectly safe for consumption.

Our technical staff carry out daily checks on the hygiene of the factory, by swabbing all areas and the food contact surfaces in particular. Only when surfaces and equipment are clean will we start production.

The laboratory technicians conduct shelf life tests on our products to verify that they will stay in the best condition over the shelf life and are safe to eat at the “use by” date.

Our laboratory technicians are highly skilled and experienced in food microbiology and through their work we are able to confirm that our HACCP control measures are effective.

It is very much a team effort and everybody has an important role in assuring the safety and quality of Farne food products.