U.K. grocery chain Waitrose is pledging to carry canned tuna certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), and put the MSC logo on its store-brand tuna.
"The blue tick is well recognized by our customers so we're pleased to offer them this added reassurance on such a regular shopping basket product,” said Waitrose Buyer John Vine. “All our canned tuna is our essential Waitrose brand, proving that customers don't need to buy top of the range food to know it's been sourced in an ethical way.”
Waitrose sells over 4 million cans of tuna each year under the company’s own brand. All Waitrose tuna, the company said in a release, is already pole-and-line caught, but the MSC logo will now appear on those cans starting in March.
“This is a fantastic development, for Waitrose, for the MSC and crucially for shoppers,” said Toby Middleton, MSC’s U.K. country manager. “By adding the MSC ecolabel onto cans of one of the nation’s favorite fish is giving consumers the power to reward sustainable fishing, and to help transform the world’s oceans towards a sustainable future.”
