Loblaw’s sustainable seafood progress

WWF

Six years ago, Loblaw made a leadership commitment to source all its seafood from certified sustainable sources, creating a market opportunity for ocean-friendly seafood in Canada that didn’t exist at this scale before. In its latest Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report (In French here), Loblaw reveals the significant level of progress it has made since starting off on its transformational journey. One of the major highlights is how Loblaw’s sustainable seafood commitment has become fully integrated in the way the grocery retailer does business – as part of its existing social responsibility pillars of respecting the environment and sourcing with integrity.

Loblaw blue menu
MSC-certified salmon on shelf at Loblaws. © Loblaw Companies Limited

During 2014, work to assess all seafood species/stocks against Loblaw’s seafood sourcing framework continued; progress and accomplishments for the year include:

  • 159 MSC-certified and 12 ASC-certified products in stores – more than any other grocery retailer in Canada, representing 17% of all seafood (by value)
  • First grocery retailer in North America to offer ASC certified Atlantic salmon
  • 93% of the seafood products in core categories – fresh, frozen, canned and frozen grocery – were procured from MSC- or ASC-certified sources, sources with conditions or sources making meaningful progress toward sustainability
  • More stores gained MSC chain of custody certification, which allows them to trace where a product is from – right down to the fish harvester that captured it.
  • Annual Oceans for Tomorrow in-store event to educate consumers on the role they can play in improving ocean health

Going forward, Loblaw will continue to work with WWF, offer more sustainable seafood products and educate customers on the importance of buying products certified by MSC and ASC, as part of its ongoing effort to offer sustainable seafood to its customers across Canada.
We can all make efforts to protect our oceans for future generations and it’s good to know that when shopping for dinner, we have more opportunity – and power – than ever before to make choices that are good for ocean health.