Franklin, Tennessee, U.S.A.-headquartered Mars Petcare, a division of global food and beverage company Mars Incorporated, has announced it will partner with business-to-business seafood traceability platform Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) and blockchain company Wholechain to advance traceability efforts in its pet food products.
The company announced the partnerships on 16 June in London, U.K., where GDST is based. Wholechain, a GDST-certified provider of traceability services, will help the company establish robust, end-to-end traceability across its seafood supply chains, Mars Petcare said in a statement.
Mars Global Marine Sustainability Lead Andrew Russell said that his company had “been working for more than 15 years ... to drive more responsible fish sourcing and address the growing pressures on vulnerable ocean ecosystems.”
“By joining GDST, we are advancing our commitment to responsible sourcing and are proud to work with Wholechain to make meaningful strides in achieving end-to-end traceability across our seafood supply chains,” Russell said.
The Wholechain partnership will allow Mars to implement a scalable solution, the company said, that could be used across multiple commodities beyond its seafood products. Key to the first phase of the collaboration will be establishing visibility within key elements of the existing Mars supply chain and working to “enhance product integrity, mitigate risk, and help ensure responsible environmental and social sourcing across its operations.”
GDST Director Huw Thomas said the partnership will support his organization's mission as it works to expand its standards into non-seafood commodity markets.
“Companies with supply chains including non-seafood commodities – such as palm, soy, beef, and chicken – are already exploring utilization of the GDST Standard in realizing their digital interoperable traceability ambitions. The [lessons] Mars will be taking from implementing the GDST Standard for their seafood products across their non-seafood supply chains is anticipated to help to drive wider adoption of the GDST Standard across multiple markets, delivering industry-wide improvements in traceability and accountability,” Thomas said.
