Boise, Idaho, U.S.A.-based Albertsons Companies said 100 percent of the seafood its Own Brand waterfront BISTRO and Open Nature lines will soon display the Responsible Choice logo.
The Responsible Choice logo will appear on more than 100 unique items in the two brands, which are carried throughout Albertsons Cos.’ more than 2,200 locations.
The company’s banners include Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Tom Thumb, Shaw’s, Star Market, ACME Markets, Randalls, and Haggen.
The Responsible Choice logo signifies that the product meets Albertsons’ comprehensive responsible seafood policy, which requires seafood be caught or farmed in ways that safeguard future supplies and help keep ecosystems thriving, it said.
“The logo also signifies that sourcing is third-party audited to ensure the highest standards,” Albertsons said in a press release.
Albertsons’ Responsible Seafood Policy mandates products be Green- or Yellow-rated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, or certified to an equivalent environmental standard, or sourced from fisheries or farms making measurable and time-bound improvements.
“For many of our customers, sustainability is just as important as quality, convenience and price,” Own Brands Senior Vice President Chad Coester. “We’re committed to delivering the best of all of the above, and I’m proud of our Own Brands and Seafood Sourcing teams for pushing to meet this target two-and-a-half years ahead of our responsible seafood policy.”
FishWise, Albertsons Companies’ seafood sustainability consulting partner, said the move represented a big step toward the company offering exclusively sustainably-sourced seafood. It comes after Albertson’s shifted to using Trace Register’s TR+ Analytics with CMCA (continuous monitoring continuous auditing) to trace its seafood products.
“We want to congratulate Albertsons Companies on achieving this major milestone towards their 2022 commitment,” FishWise CEO Tobias Aguirre said. “This is a huge accomplishment, especially for a company of this size, and is the result of hard work and unwavering dedication to their Responsible Seafood Program goals."
