Northeast Nutrition Inc., a Cooke feed mill located in the Truro Business Park in Nova Scotia, Canada, celebrated the expansion of the business. The company was established by Cooke Aquaculture Inc. in 2007 after the former Shur-Gain aquaculture feed mill plant was purchased from Nutreco – a transaction that was consistent with Cooke’s growth and vertical integration strategy. At that time, Cooke was a $230 million aquaculture company with 1,300 employees. Twelve years later, the New Brunswick based Cooke family of companies now has annual revenues of $2.4 billion and employs nearly 10,000 globally. The Truro fish feed mill employs 53 people and produces salmon feed for Cooke Aquaculture’s operations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Maine.
In 2016, Northeast Nutrition started to roll out a five-year, $20.3 million investment plan to support the growth of the aquaculture industry. Several equipment and technology upgrades have been made that will enhance product quality, which will in turn improve fish performance. Some of the key recent upgrades include:
- Replacing all bulk silos to increase available storage to 3,400 MT (from 2,400 MT).
- New, larger grinder which increased capacity from 6T per hour to 16T per hour.
- New, high-powered extruder and dryer, which increased the plant’s capacity by 50%.
- Upgraded vacuum coating system to allow for increase capacity.
- New cooler to regulate product temperature prior to packaging.
- New screens and conveyors.
“As a result of these investments, Northeast Nutrition will produce up to 100,000 metric tons of fish feed each year from the mills previous production of 65,000,” said Matt Miller, general manager of Northeast Nutrition Inc. “Our people are doing excellent work and all of our salmon is reared using feeds that are manufactured in compliance with the highest standards for animal feed safety.”
In addition, Cooke Aquaculture is only half-way through its 2018-2022 capital investment plan for Nova Scotia which includes a $112 million capacity expansion on the Northeast Nutrition mill in Truro, a new A.C. Covert seafood distribution and retail center in Dartmouth, along with hatchery and post-smolt facilities and seawater site and equipment upgrades.
Throughout the lifecycle, farmed salmon are on a strictly monitored diet of nutrient-dense, high performance feed, which is formulated in-house at Northeast Nutrition’s research center which oversees ongoing research and development and testing to ensure a product of the highest standards.
The Northeast Nutrition mill is CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) inspected and approved. It is also approved by the U.S. FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration) for U.S. production. The mill has been HACCP Certified since 2001 and is also BAP certified.
