Loblaw on track to meet sustainability goal

Loblaw on Thursday announced it is on track to achieve its goal of 100 percent sustainable seafood by the end of 2013.

Increasing the availability of responsibly sourced seafood and products with seafood ingredients, consumer education and industry collaboration are the key drivers behind the company’s goal.

From May 2010 to May 2011, Loblaw’s achievements included:

•    Exceeded goal to double the number of Marine Stewardship Council certified wild-caught seafood products available to customers. Loblaw has introduced 47 MSC-certified products, up from 16 in May 2010.

•    Worked with Canadian salmon farmers to introduce WiseSource Salmon, a more responsibly farmed Atlantic salmon, at participating stories in Ontario and Quebec.

•    Altered procurement practices from fresh swordfish – participating stores sell fresh swordfish caught by using pole and line or harpoon, which helps reduce the unintentional bycatch of other species.

•    Adopted a policy of selling 100 percent International Seafood Sustainability Foundation canned tuna to facilitate a transition by suppliers to adopt MSC certification. Currently, 95 percent of the canned tuna we sell in our stores in our stores is supplied by vendors who are committed to the policy.

“We are moving into an exciting point of our journey, marked with notable achievements including introducing WiseSource Salmon, a more responsibly farmed Atlantic salmon, and alerting our procurement practice for fresh swordfish to pole and line or harpoon to launching an education website oceansfortomorrow.ca,” said Paul Uys, Loblaw’s sustainable seafood VP. “We have a way to go, and it remains a daunting task, but we are on track to reach our goal of 100 percent sustainable seafood by year-end 2013.”

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