The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) has teamed up with online seafood marketplace Gfresh as a means to promote responsible aquaculture in China, signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and thus solidifying their mutual intentions.
The agreement stipulates that Gfresh will feature products produced by Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified facilities on its e-commerce platform, introducing consumers as well as international retail and foodservice buyers alike to the responsible operations behind their seafood purchases. For its part, GAA will reach out to its network of BAP-certified facilities so that they might take advantage of Gfresh’s service, networks and insights.
“We feel this partnership with Gfresh is well-suited for the Chinese market, where food safety is a major concern to customers. The food safety component of the BAP standards really offers Chinese retailers a unique marketing tool they can use to satisfy their customers concerns,” said Steve Hart, GAA’s vice president of education and outreach, in a prepared statement.
“This partnership with GAA is an important first step that will give Chinese buyers the ability to identify and source seafood that are certified safe and sustainable,” added Anthony Wan, vice president and co-founder of Gfresh.
An official signing ceremony will be held at this year’s GOAL conference in Guangzhou, China on 21 September.
During its first year up and running, Gfresh generated more than USD 100 million in seafood trade sales, opening four offices and expanding to 10 buyer cities in China (Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu) and abroad (Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea).
