BRAMPTON, ON – In the past year, Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) has made tremendous progress toward its sustainable seafood goal of sourcing 100 per cent of its seafood from sustainable sources by year-end 2013. Key milestones include industry collaborations as well as providing customers with more sustainable seafood options and improving awareness.
Loblaw's major achievements include tripling the number of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified wild-caught seafood in stores and offering WiseSource™ Salmon in more Loblaw banner stores in Atlantic Canada, Ontario and Quebec this year. The Company has also improved the management of its seafood buying process with the implementation of a vendor questionnaire in Spring 2012.
"For the balance of year, Loblaw remains focused on increasing engagement with consumers, suppliers and key industry stakeholders," said Paul Uys, vice president, sustainable seafood, Loblaw Companies Limited. "While we still have work ahead of us, we are confident that we have paved the road for success."
Quotes:
"Loblaw has developed the most aggressive sustainable seafood commitment in the world," says Gerald Butts, president & ceo, WWF Canada. "Through its collaboration within the supply chain, investment in education, and stakeholder and government engagement, Loblaw is driving large-scale transformational change."
"The Marine Stewardship Council applauds Loblaw for the introduction of fresh MSC-certified seafood in stores," says Kerry Coughlin, MSC regional director, Americas. "With 73 MSC certified wild-caught seafood products, Loblaw remains the largest seller of MSC-certified products in Canada."
2011 Sustainable Seafood Progress Report:
More responsible seafood options available for consumers
• More than tripled the number of MSC-certified wild-caught seafood products in stores, from 22 in 2010 to 73 by year-end 2011.
• Introduced MSC-certified wild-caught fresh fish at the seafood counters in 12 Greater Toronto Area stores.
• Expanded WiseSource™ Salmon in Ontario and Quebec stores and introduced the product throughout Atlantic Canada.
Industry Collaboration
• Engaged partners and vendors to source viable solutions for closed containment aquaculture.
• Engaged national brand vendors to implement MSC certification for their seafood products.
• Participated in the global Salmon Aquaculture Dialogues – a WWF-initiated roundtable focused on managing the environmental and social impacts of salmon farming.
• Implemented a proprietary vendor questionnaire to assess and manage our seafood buying process.
Customer engagement
• Educated and engaged consumers about sustainable seafood through www.oceansfortomorrow.ca, Facebook and various in-store marketing materials.
2012 Targets:
Offer customers more responsible Seafood Options:
• Launch Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC)-certified WiseSource™ Tilapia in our stores.
• Establish MSC Chain of Custody Certification for fresh seafood counters in corporate stores and distribution centres.
Work with partners and suppliers to drive progress in new and meaningful ways:
• Complete vendor questionnaire analysis to identify remaining high-risk species/stocks and vendors unable or unwilling to meet Loblaw's criteria for sustainability.
• Where there is an MSC-certified fishery in place, convert, or have an action plan in place to convert, all outstanding control brand products to MSC sources.
Industry collaboration:
• Become members of the International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organization (IFFO) and begin conversion to 100% feed, with fishmeal and fish oil, certified against the IFFO Responsible Supply standard for all our control brand aquaculture programs.
• Continue to work toward appropriate solutions to managing species at risk in partnership with the fishing industry, WWF and our independent marine science advisor.
Customer engagement:
• Continue to engage and educate customers through consumer-focused, in-store events, online at www.oceansfortomorrow.ca, Loblaw's sustainable seafood Facebook page and various in-store marketing materials.
Loblaw's sustainable seafood commitment is driven by its corporate social responsibility principle, Source with Integrity. A commitment to Source with Integrity is one of five Loblaw corporate social responsibility principles, including Respect the Environment, Make a Positive Difference in Our Community, Reflect our Nation's Diversity and Be a Great Place to Work.
For more information about Loblaw's sustainable seafood commitment please visit: www.loblaw.ca/seafood, www.oceansfortomorrow.ca and www.facebook.com/LoblawSustainableSeafood.
About Loblaw Companies Limited (TSX: L)
Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, is Canada's largest food retailer and a leading provider of drugstore, general merchandise and financial products and services. Loblaw is one of the largest private sector employers in Canada. With more than 1,000 corporate and franchised stores from coast to coast, Loblaw and its franchisees employ more than 135,000 full-time and part-time employees. Through its portfolio of store formats, Loblaw is committed to providing Canadians with a wide, growing and successful range of products and services to meet the everyday household demands of Canadian consumers. Loblaw is known for the quality, innovation and value of its food offering. It offers Canada's strongest control (private) label program, including the unique President's Choice®, no name® and Joe Fresh® brands. In addition, the Company makes available to consumers President's Choice Financial® services and offers the PC® points loyalty program.
More information about Loblaw's corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments and performance visit www.loblaw.ca/csr.
Source: Loblaw Companies Limited