La Vie Seafood (Pty) Ltd is a shell fish processor (mainly mussels) that was established in 1998. The company is a subsidiary of Blue Bay Aquafarm, which in turn is owned by the TerraSan group of companies. Current processing embraces 4000kg of mussels per day, procured from the Blue Bay Aquafarm and Masiza mariculture operations. La Vie is involved in primary processing and is labour intensive. The average number of employees total 70 per month. The company has a high labour turn-over as extensive use is made of contractual seasonal workers. Training in this sector is largely "in-house" with La Vie's production assistant having attended a HACCP training course. The rest of the skills development expenditure is seen as part of the social responsibility of employing and training new employees on a regular basis. Health, safety and quality performance is of the utmost importance in La Vie's food processing. Their processing systems comply with SABS standards, with HACCP standards currently being implemented.

Back (ltr) - Schalk Visser (MD of La Vie), Shane Hewitt (MD of TerraSan Ltd - the Holding Co) Front (ltr) - Christo de Wit (Chairman of La Vie & TerraSan Ltd - the Holding Co), Willemien Visser, André du Plessis (CEO Mariculture, TerraSan Group), Vos Pienaar

La Vie Seafoods used its management skills and facilities to create an empowerment company for its PDI employees, Kusasa 245 (Pty) Ltd and wrote the motivation and business plan which enabled the PDI employees to obtain a 3000kg lobster quota. They also assisted the workers to structure and manage the company and now 75% of the management control and 80% of the equity is PDI.