Cooke shows its mettle with Platinum award
Cooke Aquaculture has been named as one of Canada’s best-managed companies for the seventh consecutive year.
The achievement means New Brunswick-headquartered Cooke becomes a Platinum member of Canada’s Best Managed Companies programme.
Cooke farms salmon in Scotland, Chile, Atlantic Canada and the United States, and other fish in Spain. The family-owned firm also has seafood and wild fishery divisions and now directly employs approximately 6,000 people world-wide and supports another 14,280 jobs indirectly.
The Best Managed Companies programme celebrates the top private businesses in Canada with revenues over $15 million. A panel of judges evaluates the applicants in four areas: strategy, capability, commitment, and financials.
“It’s through the hard work and determination of our employees that we have grown to become a fully integrated global seafood leader offering a wide array of farmed and wild-caught products to customers around the world,” said Cooke chief executive Glenn Cooke.
“Salmon aquaculture is vital to rural Atlantic Canada as it is in many other coastal communities globally. The companies in this region take great care looking out for the thousands of Atlantic Canadians employed in this marine industry.
“The majority of employees live and work in areas where comparable employment providing good family wage jobs does not otherwise exist – protecting those livelihoods enables locally-raised farmed salmon to remain a low-barrier protein that Canadians of any income level can enjoy.”
The Platinum accolade gives Cooke some cheer after a difficult few months in the Pacific state of Washington in the US. Following an escape of thousands of Atlantic salmon from a Cooke farm there last August, politicians there have passed a law to phase out non-native fin fish farming by 2025.
Cooke is the only Atlantic salmon farmer in the state, having paid around US$70 million for four sites belonging to Icicle Seafoods in 2016.
