People who love local, sustainable seafood have more to smile about as a new partnership forms on Canada’s West Coast.
The NCN Cannery LP has joined Gerard St. Jean as a shareholder in Nanaimo, BC based St. Jean’s Cannery and Smokehouse.
NCN Cannery LP is owned by a group of Nuu-Chah-Nulth First Nations that are passionate about harvesting sustainable seafood and sharing their history and culture with seafood lovers around the world. Family owned St. Jean’s Cannery has been a fixture on Vancouver Island for 54 years, and has expanded sales internationally through the Raincoast Seafoods brand.
St. Jean’s president Gerard St. Jean is excited about the partnership. “The seafood industry continues to evolve. First Nations have increasing access to local wild-caught resources that will help with our supply chain, and they have an important story to tell in the market. We have been talking for a long time and, as our business continues to grow and seek new areas to expand, an alliance with the NCN Cannery LP increasingly made sense for our company, employees, and clients.”
For NCN Cannery LP, integrating First Nations’ resource access with processing and marketing capacity has always been part of their vision. “As we looked around the industry, we kept coming back to St. Jean’s as an ideal partner for us” says Mick Farup, NCN Cannery LP director. “Their strong local connection and reputation for integrity, as well as top-notch products, facilities, staff, and services, are aspects of their business that we identify with.”
Larry Johnson, President of NCN Cannery LP, says this is a historic and proud day for the Nations. “Sustainable seafood is part of who we are as ocean people. We have a lot of respect for Gerard and St. Jean’s, and partnering with them allows us to grow and contribute more in the seafood industry.”
For clients and employees, it will be business as usual. Gerard will continue with St. Jean’s in a day-to-day capacity and as director and shareholder. “We are not planning anything different in the short term” says General Manager Steve Hughes. “Our sport, retail and co-packing activity will continue as always. Our RainCoast Trading brand will continue to grow in popularity in the market. We are all really excited to work more closely with the NCN Cannery LP and our new directors and to add their strengths to ours.”
