The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has teamed with WWF and two of China’s upper-crust boutique retailers to promote Sustainable Seafood week in mainland stores, markets and hotels.
Promotions and information campaigns on seafood sustainability are running this week in chain stores Olé and Tian Hong (also known Rainbow) – both of which specialize in high-margin and imported foodstuffs – in Shenzhen and 26 other cities nationwide, including major regional metropolises like Chengdu. The MSC is also conducting promotions on sustainability in outlets of Japanese retailer Ito Yokado and Swedish furniture retailer IKEA.
The MSC activities – running from 4 to 18 August – involve the participation of China Chainstore Franchise Association, the umbrella body of franchised retailers.
MSC has been organizing the Sustainable Seafood week in mainland China since 2014 and has in the past worked with Carrefour, WalMart, Metro and Vanguard, but it’s not clear if these retailers are involved in 2017 events. Hotel chains involved include Hyatt and Shangri La.
WWF has spent several years researching and preparing a campaign to change Chinese consumer tastes away from environmentally non-sustainable species.
