Add Sobeys to the growing list of retailers, foodservice operators and distributors worldwide that have committed to selling farmed seafood certified according to the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP).
The GAA on Monday announced that the Stellarton, Nova Scotia-based supermarket company recently launched its first line of private-label farmed seafood products certified according to the BAP standards for food safety and environmental and social responsibility.
Sobeys is Canada’s second largest food retailer behind Loblaw, with more than 1,300 stores in 10 Canadian provinces operating under a variety of banners, including Sobeys, IGA, Foodland and Price Chopper.
“Sobeys is actively engaged in industry initiatives on sustainable seafood. We support the BAP certification standards and are pleased to begin using it on a number of our private-label products,” said Shawn McMurter, Sobey’s national procurement director for meat and seafood. “We look forward to the continued evolution of the BAP program.”
According to the GAA, there are about 600,000 metric tons of BAP-certified seafood now in the global marketplace.
“Sobeys has demonstrated exceptional leadership,” said Peter Redmond, GAA’s VP of development. “We are pleased to add them to our growing list of companies to adopt BAP certification.”
That list includes U.S. Foodservice, Topco and Busch Entertainment Corp.
