Loblaw has launched a new campaign to make its seafood offerings a little less environmentally fishy.
The grocery chain announced a new initiative Thursday that will see empty trays at the seafood counter where unsustainable products once sat. Now gone from the shelves are Chilean sea bass, shark, orange roughy and skate. Only if a sustainable source is found do they have a chance to reappear.
The goal is to educate consumers on what constitutes sustainable seafood products, which species are at risk and what the company is doing to improve the state of the world’s oceans.
In times of all-things-green, this may sound like just more lofty corporate lip service, but Loblaw has teamed with WWF Canada and other partners, including Greenpeace and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), to make sure 100% of its seafood is sustainable by 2013.
Hadley Archer, vice-president of strategic partnership for WWF-Canada, said the retailer’s efforts are anything but casual.
"It’s hugely significant, in a Canadian and global context, frankly," he said. "They’re the largest buyer and seller of seafood in Canada. They also have a global supply-chain so this will impact far beyond the Canadian context and into fisheries around the world."
Archer added that the company’s partnership with WWF is quite deep, with WWF being part of the Loblaw’s working group on the issue, providing ongoing technical knowledge, scientific knowledge, and understanding of certification, whether from MSC or the Agriculture Stewardship Council, for farmed seafood.
"What’s been very heartening is just how serious they’re taking it and how committed they are to changing their operations and willing to listen to groups like ourselves," he said.
In addition to the in-store displays, which includes information for customers on MSC certification, Loblaw launched a Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/LoblawSustainableSeafood) to share information about the brand’s seafood sustainability commitment and progress, and will promote products MSC certified products in the February 2010 President’s Choice Healthy Insider’s Report.
"We believe there are challenges facing our oceans and there is a need for leadership in the corporate sector," said Melanie Agopian, Loblaws’ senior director, meat and seafood. "A lot of work has gone on to incorporate [this initiative] into our business. It’s been all about how we establish a sustainable seafood sourcing practice that goes across all the products we sell and all our outlets across Canada."
Consumers can expect some price changes due to the new policy, but in many instances a sustainable source can be found at the same price as unsustainable products.
The new campaign will start in 18 stores across Canada, after which Loblaw will evaluate the response, then roll it out nationally in the next few months.
