Canadian retailer Overwaitea Food Group (OFG) recently announced that it now offers locally produced, sustainably sourced sushi products in its Lower Mainland locations and plans to roll out the sushi products at additional stores in the near future.
As a result, more than 75 percent of the seafood in OFG’s sushi products meet SeaChoice’s criteria for “best choice” or “some concerns” in its sustainable seafood buying guide.
In June 2009, OFG became the first Canadian retailer to partner with Canadian environmental NGO SeaChoice on a sustainable seafood initiative. Over the past two years, OFG has distributed nearly 400,000 SeaChoice sustainable seafood guides, discontinued several red-listed, unsustainable seafood products and continues to work with local suppliers to identify sustainable seafood alternatives for customers.
“We are proud of reaching another milestone in our long-term commitment to ocean health and sustainable fishing industry practices,” said Steve van der Leest, OFG’s president. “We’re working hard with SeaChoice to help out local supplies become more environmentally sustainable, which in turn contributes to sustainable and thriving local economies.”
Vancouver-based OFG operates a total of 123 stores in western Canada under the banners Overwaitea Foods, Save-On-Foods, PriceSmart Foods, Urban Fare, Cooper’s Foods and Bulkley Valley Wholesale.
