JVM Sales Corp., doing business as Milano’s Cheese Corp., received the SQF 2000 Level 3 Excellent Certification by the Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI), the leading global authority on food safety and quality control in the foodservice industry.
This latest announcement from Milano’s comes as the company begins an aggressive launch into the retail industry.
“This is a huge advantage for us in building our brand,” says Anthony Caliendo, vice president of sales and marketing for Milano’s, based in Linden, N.J. “We are here today because of our CEO Mary Beth Tomasino, who is committed to quality and safety and who assembled the team to make this happen.”
Milano’s received the Level SQF 2000 Level 2 designation last year and then made the decision to proceed with the rigorous Level 3 certification process. The SQF 2000 Level 3 is the highest level of certification awarded to manufacturers and distributors by SQFI, and it is achieved by demonstrating a comprehensive implementation of food safety and quality management systems for more than a year. Through this system, manufacturers and distributors also receive either a compliant, good or excellent ranking.
“The Level 3 Excellent Certification was important to our company on many different levels,” says Tomasino. “More and more retailers are limiting their business transactions to SQFI-certified companies because consumers are increasingly more educated and knowledgeable about food safety and compliance. As a smaller, privately-owned Italian cheese distributor, it was a natural decision to apply for this certification because we are competing for market share with much larger corporations.”
JVM Sales is the only manufacturer focusing exclusively on grated and shredded Italian hard cheeses to earn the excellent level of the SQF 2000 Level 3 certificate.
“Due to our food safety measures, consistency and competitive price, we are one of the fastest-growing cheese manufacturers in the U.S., and we know that this certification will distinguish us from the competition and assist in our international growth plans,” he says.
