Albertsons is the first grocery company to sell Fair Trade Certified scallops from Santa Monica Seafood in Santa Monica, California.
Santa Monica Seafood’s Signature Sea Scallops, sourced from the Port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, are now available at Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores in Southern California. They will also be available at Safeway stores in Northern California this summer.
"Albertsons Companies takes our commitment to socially and environmentally responsible seafood seriously," said Buster Houston, group director of seafood at Albertsons Companies. "By providing Fair Trade Certified seafood, we are able to support the domestic industry, provide our customers with the highest quality product, and support the health of ocean ecosystems and communities that depend upon them."
The Fair Trade Certified program protects the fundamental human rights of workers, prevents forced and child labor, establishes safe working conditions, and enables responsible and sustainable resource management, according to Albertsons.
Like all Fair Trade Certified products, producers of Santa Monica Seafood's scallops receive a “Community Development Premium” — 10 percent of the dockside price — which they can “collectively invest in much-needed community projects,” Albertsons said.
"The premium received by NWASSF will augment the scallop fisheries advocacy group Fisherman Survival Fund and promote industry research partners UMass Dartmouth's School for Marine Science & Technology and Coonamessett Farm,” said David Ferreira, secretary of The Northwest Atlantic Sea Scallop Fisheries (NWASSF),
Albertsons Companies became the world’s first retailer to sell Fair Trade Certified seafood in 2015, when it began carrying Fair Trade yellowfin tuna from Indonesia.
