Sainsbury’s canned tuna sales were up 15 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, the UK retailer said in its annual report, which it released on Tuesday.
The company attributed the increase in canned tuna sales to its decision in January to sell only pole-and-line caught tuna across all of its tuna products at its nearly 550 UK supermarkets.
Tuna is Sainsbury’s third best-selling fish, and an additional 1,500 metric tons of fish will be harvested sustainably as a result of its pledge to offer only pole-and-line caught tuna, the company announced in its annual report.
Greenpeace also helped, said the company, when it ranked Sainsbury’s No. 1 in its list grading the UK’s canned-tuna brands according to whether the fish is harvested in a sustainable, environmentally friendly manner, which it released in January.
“More than ever, customers expect high ethical standards in our sourcing, and this shows in our sales figures. For example, having been rated by Greenpeace as the best UK retailer for sustainable tuna and, through wider recognition of our sustainable sourcing methods, sales of our tinned tuna rose by nearly 15 percent” in the fourth quarter of 2010, the company said in its annual report.
