LINDEN, N.J. – JVM Sales Corp d/b/a Milano’s Cheese Corp. has recently been awarded 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 food service 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,” said Anthony Caliendo, vice president of sales and marketing for Milano’s Cheese Corp. “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,” said 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.”
Only 31 cheese companies nationwide have achieved this recognition and JVM Sales Corp d/b/a Milano’s Cheese Corp. 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, a fact that Caliendo is intensely proud of. “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 said.
Based in Linden, N.J. and established in 1983, Milano’s Cheese Corp. is a family owned and operated premier Italian cheese manufacturer that strives to maintain the highest level of customer satisfaction through continuous growth and improvements in the quality of its products, product diversity, delivery and service. Evolving through the years with the family’s combined experience of more than 60 years as gifted cheese makers, Milano’s has become industry leaders with a diversity of production lines and a multitude of capabilities and are considered experts in the art of grating, shredding, custom blending and packing of imported and domestic Parmesan, Romano and Asiago cheeses.
For more information, call Anthony Caliendo, vice president of sales and marketing for Milano’s Cheese Corp., at 1-800-BIGCHEESE (244-2433) or visit milanoscheesecorp.com.