After success with switching to sustainable wild salmon earlier this year, Elior North America now says it is will offer sustainable pole and line-caught canned tuna to its foodservice operators.
Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.A.-based Elior North America, which manages foodservice operations at more than 1,500 locations across the United States, including colleges and hospitals, is now offering its restaurant operators the Sysco brand of Portico Pole & Line Caught Albacore and Portico Pole & Line Caught Skipjack tuna.
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program rates both tuna selections as “Best Choice.”
The move represents a big opportunity for pole-and-line canned tuna suppliers, since Elior purchases between 300,000 and 400,000 pounds of canned tuna annually.
“At my first discussion with Greenpeace a year-and-a-half ago, this was very important to them," Guy Kellner, senior vice president of culinary development for Elior North America, told SeafoodSource. Elior is also a year ahead of its goals in switching to Seafood Watch “Best Choice” tuna, according to Kellner.
While the pole-and-line caught canned tuna carries a premium price tag, “We think it is important,” Kellner said.
Meanwhile, the restaurant management company’s switch from farmed salmon to only sustainable wild salmon this spring has been received “very well” by customers and chefs, according to Kellner.
“We have gotten a lot of feedback from chefs…Sustainable wild salmon versus farm-raised tastes like a different fish – a different species – even though it is not,” Kellner said.
Elior sources around 50,000 pounds of wild salmon annually from a variety of vendors, including Trident Seafoods and Portico, courtesy of the company’s preferred distributor Sysco.
Next, Elior plans to source Seafood Watch-approved sustainable shrimp.
“Originally, we were going to take a look at haddock in 2020; however, because of Seafood Watch’s interest in sustainable shrimp, we are doing that first,” Kellner said.
“Shrimp is more challenging and it might take the whole year, but that is OK,” he added. Seafood Watch is working with Vietnamese suppliers to “bring better, sustainable shrimp to America,” Kellner said.
Consumer perception is changing, and consumers expect the “right seafood” on their plates, according to Kellner.
“They are interested in what they eat, and where their food comes from,” he said.
