Safeway celebrates seafood sustainability milestone

Boise, Idaho-based Albertson Companies, parent company to Pleasanton, Calif.-headquartered Safeway Inc., said that as of year-end 2015, 77 percent of the fresh and frozen seafood and 99 percent of private label frozen packaged seafood Safeway sells meets its responsible sourcing commitment. Since setting this ambitious goal in 2010, Safeway (as well as Albertsons' Carrs, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Vons and Pavilions banners) has transitioned more than 29 million pounds of seafood to environmentally responsible sources. To help reach this major milestone, the company partnered with FishWise, an environmental non-profit organization that promotes the health and recovery of ocean ecosystems through environmentally and socially responsible business practices.

Together with FishWise, Safeway has created a comprehensive sustainable seafood program and has celebrated notable achievements on many fronts, Albertsons said. In an effort to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), it publicly supported new federal legislation (H.R. 774/S. 1334), and successfully transitioned all of its king crab away from high-risk IUU fisheries to well-managed Alaskan sources. The retailer aims to be the leader in the traceability of its seafood supply chains and has done so through rigorous data-collection processes and traceability exercises. It also values science-based marine protected areas and has supported protection for Antarctica’s Ross Sea by pledging to not buy Chilean sea bass from this region.

Safeway is committed to supporting efforts that improve the environmental performance of wild fisheries and aquaculture farms worldwide, and will be stepping up efforts going forward, Albertsons said. When responsibly sourced products are unavailable, the retailer will prioritize wild seafood from fishery improvement projects, as defined by the Conservation Alliance for Seafood Solutions. For farmed seafood, it has actively engaged with key industry stakeholders to strengthen aquaculture certification standards and see effective zonal management as key to long-term sustainability.

In addition to its conservation efforts, Safeway is dedicated to reducing the risk of human rights abuses in global seafood supply chains, an urgent issue that has recently come to light, Albertsons said. Although complex challenges remain, the retailer is hopeful that its continued collaboration with NGOs, industry stakeholders and government representatives will improve social conditions in the seafood industry. Complementing this approach Safeway introduced the world’s first Fair Trade Certified seafood product in 2015.

And following Safeway’s merger with Albertsons earlier this year, the partnership with FishWise was extended across the Albertsons Companies family of stores, effectively doubling the size of the Safeway Responsible Seafood Program to incorporate more than 2,200 retail locations. Moving forward, all of Albertsons' divisions will transition to sourcing fresh and private label frozen seafood that is Green or Yellow rated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, certified to an equivalent environmental standard, or sourced from fisheries or farms making measurable and time-bound improvements, Albertsons said.