Trim
The fillets are trimmed such that they are completely free from bones, including the ‘pin bones’ that are typical of tilapia and which give our fillets the characteristic V-cut. All fat is removed and the fillet is neatened of any ragged cuts to give it an overall neat appearance. Our customers can chose between two grades of trim. This affects the fillet only in the belly area.

Super-trim
The ST fillet is fully trimmed in the belly area and is left completely free from skin.

Minimum-trim
The MT fillet is not as fully trimmed in the belly area, with a little of the light skin left there.

Chilling
Each fillet is chilled within minutes of its preparation. From here, we keep the insulated packed boxes in a monitored ambient temperature of -2.0 to 2.0°C, in our chill stores and refrigerated vehicles, right up to the loading onto the plane. Our customers have a choice in exactly the precise chilling they prefer.

Chilled fillet - XG
For this we bring the temperature down to between –0.2 to 2.0°C, which absolutely ensures that there is no ice formation. It is however the least thermally stable product and is at risk should our customers have any problems with their distribution network. For this reason, we always recommend that chilled product is packed with a frozen gel pack.

Super Chilled Fillet - SX
For this we bring the temperature down to between –1.0 and –0.4°C. At this temperature level, while the fillet is still unfrozen, you can get a slight effect of residual surface water crystallising. The result, however, it to provide a much more thermally stable product that is able to take some temperature abuse during distribution. This can be shipped without the aid of a frozen gel pack.

Safe Chilled Fillet – SSX
The freezing point of our fillets, with their 0.6% naturally occurring salt content, is just below –2.0°C. Where we are sending very few boxes, especially as samples, it is prudent to take the temperature as close to the freezing point as possible. For Safe Chilled product we reduce the temperature to between –1.0 & –2.0°C, which provides the best defence a fresh fillet can have against temperature abuse. As an additional safety, we can also include frozen gel packs. Under these circumstances, it is likely that any residual moisture in the box, or on the surface of the fillet will crystallise.

Frozen Fillet – FX
For our frozen fillets, we quickly reduce the temperature to below –18°C straight off the processing line. The fillets are individually quick frozen (IQF) and are stored in our cold store at –24°C. The frozen fillets are protected by a 5% glaze which is compensated for.

Packaging

Our fresh fillets are packed into expanded polystyrene boxes with very good insulation properties. These are made to our own design and feature a raised base (to allow space for any drip loss) and puncture points for easy draining of the boxes at the retail outlet. They are available with a net mass of 3 or 6kg.

3kg fresh fillet box 6kg fresh fillet box

The fresh product is packed in individual layers, which are separated to as to avoid any staining on the fillets.

Our frozen IQF product is also packed in a 6kg box. This is a white waxed cardboard box with the fillets protected with a plastic liner.

Size Grading

We have an automatic grading machine for very fine grading of the frozen product. We can grade to our customers individual requirements. Our standard sizes are indicated with colour stickers on the boxes and are as follows….

Fresh
100 to 150g red
150 to 200g green
200 to 250g blue
mixed grades black
Frozen
80 to 140g red
140 to 170g green
170 to 220g yellow
220 to 260g blue

Label Information

The following information is carried on our labels. It includes the information that allows us to trace the fillet history, right back to the feed on the farm.

date of production
best before date
net weight
storage temperature
country of origin
country of receipt
lot number
EU factory registration number

In addition there is a label to indicate that the product has been farm raised in fresh water. All the information is carried in the following languages…

English
Italian
French
Spanish
Dutch
German