Compass Group, Contessa Premium Foods and Foodbuy on Thursday announced the successful implementation of sustainable purchasing standards for imported farmed shrimp.
The standards were developed by North Carolina-based Compass Group and California-based Contessa and have been endorsed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) Seafood Watch program.
Previously, the MBA deemed all imported farmed shrimp unsustainable and placed them on its seafood-buying guide's "avoid" list. Contessa is providing the Compass Group the first and only imported farmed shrimp recognized as sustainable by MBA and to receive a "good alternative" ranking.
The standards advocate real and achievable environmental benchmarks, establish a process to document that the benchmarks are being achieved and require product traceability, according to the Compass Group. Under the standards, Contessa will be the exclusive supplier of sustainable shrimp for Compass and North Carolina-based Foodbuy, North America's largest group purchasing company for high-volume multi-unit food operators.
"The goal of Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program has been to harness the power of the marketplace to create a real change that translates into healthy oceans," said Edward Cassano, MBA's senior director of conservation outreach. "Compass Group's strong commitment to the Seafood Watch program, and Contessa's willingness to work at the farm level to provide a fully traceable supply of sustainably farmed shrimp in line with Seafood Watch criteria, demonstrates that significant, conservation-oriented shrimp aquaculture practices are possible."
February 11, 2010
