The United Kingdom’s biggest retailer Tesco has announced measures in partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) that will see it source even more of the seafood it sells in a sustainable way.
Key strategies will include a rapid expansion of the MSC eco-label scheme for pre-packed and frozen fish sold in Tesco stores. It will also introduce MSC-certified fish to its 656 fish counters and ensure that all the tuna it sells – own-label and branded – is sourced in a sustainable way.
“Customers tell us it’s important they can be sure the fish on our shelves is caught in a way that maintains healthy fish stocks and doesn’t cause harm to other sea life or the ocean environment. Rapidly expanding the amount of MSC eco-label fish on our shelves and counters will make sustainably sourced fish affordable and accessible for shoppers across Britain,” said Tim Smith, group quality director for Tesco.
This month, the retailer introduced the MSC eco-label across 28 different types of chilled pre-packed fish – including cod fillets, smoked kippers, haddock fishcakes and fish fingers. Next month, it will introduce the label to its 656 fish counters across the U.K., and later in the year it will introduce it to relevant frozen fish lines.
Tesco has also made a further commitment on sustainable tuna. Since 2012, all Tesco’s own-brand tuna has been fished using the sustainable pole-and line-method. This approach was then extended for tuna used as an ingredient in own-brand sandwiches, pastas and salads.
Because of the importance of a collaborative industry effort to ensure globally sustainable tuna, Tesco is now extending the same sustainability requirements to branded tuna products, said the retailer, adding that it will allow brands sufficient time to meet these requirements, but expects their plans to be “ambitious, credible and publically communicated.”
“Tesco’s commitment to MSC certified seafood is helping to ensure the future health of the world’s oceans,"said Rupert Howes, chief executive of MSC. "As the U.K.’s biggest supermarket chain, Tesco is uniquely positioned to help British shoppers to put MSC eco-labeled, sustainable fish on the table. By helping their customers to choose certified sustainable seafood, they are also helping them to recognize and reward sustainable fishing, ensuring healthy fish stocks, and healthy oceans for generations to come.”
