Lucky for us, Lisa’s passion for the food industry started at a young age propelling her into an education and career that led her to where she is today. Lisa is the Director of Quality Assurance and Technical Services at Ocean Choice – a role that keeps her driving food quality standards right here at home.
For the last 10 years, Lisa and her team of quality experts have worked with our five fish processing plants and five offshore vessels to ensure each and every fish we catch and process is of the highest quality. From ocean to kitchen, Lisa is involved in every step ensuring we can trace products from catch to customer.
According to Lisa, over the years a lot has changed in the food processing sector. “Consumers are driving the need for an increased focus on quality – they want to know where their food is coming from; and how it has been handled and processed every step of the way,” says Lisa.
The challenge of constantly adjusting and responding to market demands is what motivates Lisa’s meticulous attention to detail and her laser-focus on ensuring our seafood is top notch. From knowing where our fish is caught to ensuring the labelling is checked and re-checked, Lisa thrives on knowing she is helping ensure our seafood is fully traceable and safe for consumers.
Lisa understands that if we do not have quality in the box, we can’t sell the product. She is proud of her work and she is happy to know that our customers from around the globe continue to purchase our seafood because they know they will get a quality product each and every time.
Lisa has many fond memories of baking and cooking meals with her mother as a young child. Meals were always an important time in her house; they were a time for family. “I grew up in a house and with a family of great cooks and bakers that passed many traditions and a love of food onto me. I am now passing these traditions along to my daughter and son,” says Lisa.
“Both of my children love to help in the kitchen. I always tell my children that they will both be great cooks before they leave our house,” adds Lisa.
Graduating from the Diploma of Technology/Bachelor of Technology in Food Technology from the Marine Institute, Lisa started her career as a chef and then moved into the product and research and development side of the industry. It was from here that her passion for quality and traceability grew. Lisa became fascinated with new quality assurance technologies that could help the industry and our employees become more efficient while also allowing us to increase our quality, traceability and accountability.
Lisa resides in St. John’s with her husband Tim and their two children – Brianna, 13 and Paddy, 9. For Lisa’s children, her meticulous attention to detail and desire for top-notch quality is sometimes a bit trying! Lisa always takes the time to check, double-check and triple-check homework.
