Food Safety Training Helps Ensure Sea Breeze Remains Compliant and Maintains High-Quality Standards

New Jersey is known as the Garden State, but farming is only part of the state's impressive food industry. "MADE in New Jersey" manufacturer, Sea Breeze is a fourth-generation, family-owned manufacturer and distributor of premium beverages on tap in the Metro New York-New Jersey area since 1925. They manufacture beverage concentrates, milkshake bases, and syrups, including their famous Bosco Chocolate Syrup at their 40,000 square foot facility in Towaco, New Jersey. Sea Breeze has over 75 employees and offers a variety of services in addition to their manufactured products.   

Food manufacturers are held to high standards. Any product meant for human consumption must be produced in a facility that meets strict requirements and by a workforce that has the right training and certifications. Food regulatory bodies require businesses to participate in annual training for specialized employees and any time Sea Breeze brings on new members of the team, those individuals must be brought up to speed. Additionally, when staff are promoted to a new role, they must be trained to ensure a smooth transition, and production is not hindered in any way.   

Sea Breeze has a long history with NJMEP, part of the MEP National Network™. When new customized training opportunities are available and the company brings on new people, they turn to their local MEP center to upskill their staff. They recently hired new regulatory employees and brought on new people to work in the food science laboratory.   

NJMEP has the capabilities and expertise to provide training in nearly any area within a food manufacturing operation through its highly regarded food manufacturing training suite of services. In-depth courses are led by some of the nations' most highly regarded food regulatory experts in a customizable, engaging, and efficient manner.  A total of 17 courses were identified to meet the regulatory, compliance, and upskilling needs of the client. Thirty training days were provided to 10 employees over a 12-month period. The following quality control – food safety courses and training were facilitated by NJMEP: food allergens, foreign supplier verification program (FSVP), food defense, FDA food labeling nutritional facts updates, HACCP, SQF practitioner, preventative controls for human food PCQI, internal auditing for food safety management, CGMP requirement and readiness, cleaning and sanitation, food recalls and withdrawal and corrective action and root cause analysis.