Cuisine Solutions Inc.

Cuisine Solutions Inc., doing business as Vie De France Culinary Corporation, operates a USDA-inspected plant on Wheeler Avenue in Alexandria, Virginia. The federal record lists establishment numbers M17643, P17643 and V17643, with FSIS activities covering meat processing, poultry processing, voluntary processing of meat and voluntary slaughter of meat. FSIS classifies the plant as small and shows a grant of inspection date of November 12, 2013. Species detail is not reported to FSIS, and no custom-exempt activity is reported.

The company website describes Cuisine Solutions as a food manufacturer built around sous vide, a method in which food is vacuum sealed and cooked in water at constant precise temperatures. The site states the company pioneered the method in 1971 and that its proprietary pasteurization process is validated by SQF, HACCP and USDA Organic certifications. Products are described as fully cooked, free of preservatives, individually packed, and carrying up to 18 months of frozen shelf life. The site's contact page lists the Alexandria plant at 4106 Wheeler Avenue along with corporate offices in Sterling, Virginia, a second United States plant in San Antonio, Texas, and operations in France and Thailand.

The stated customer base is commercial rather than local: restaurant chains, food service, airlines and travel, hotels and lodging, retail, military and government, K-12 education, and meal kits. The website cites 35,000 restaurants served, more than 2,500 hotels, top 10 global airlines and 3,500 retail stores, and describes private-label and consumer packaged goods work, including press items about Kirkland Signature sous vide egg bites at Costco. Nothing in the sources describes livestock intake, custom processing for farmers, or an on-site retail counter.

The sources do not describe any service for farmers or ranchers bringing animals. FSIS lists meat and poultry processing plus voluntary processing and voluntary slaughter of meat at this establishment, and reports no custom-exempt activity. The website presents the operation as a manufacturer of fully cooked sous vide products for commercial buyers, with no mention of livestock intake, booking, kill dates, cut and wrap, or fees. Producers seeking harvest or custom cut and wrap should contact the plant directly at (703) 270-2900 to confirm whether any such work is done.

Cuisine Solutions Inc. operates under a federal grant of inspection, so product from this plant can be sold anywhere in the United States, which matters if you sell online or across a state line. FSIS does not list a custom-exempt activity for this plant.

There is no mention of a retail store, freezer sales, halves or quarters, bundles, shipping, or online consumer ordering at the Alexandria plant. The website states that Cuisine Solutions products reach households through retail chains and specialty retailers in fresh and frozen sections, including private-label programs, and press items reference Kirkland Signature sous vide egg bites sold at Costco. Households interested in specific products would buy them through retailers rather than at the plant, as listed.

If you are buying a half or quarter animal, the plant is where the animal is processed; the farm sells you the animal. Read how to buy a half cow for the sequence and the math.