14/03/2022
BANGKOK – March 14, 2022 – Thai Union Group has entered a partnership with Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) to further improve transparency in the Company’s supply chains and consider wider impacts on biodiversity.
The agreement with SFP – which is dedicated to delivering healthy marine and aquatic ecosystems and a secure seafood supply through the creation of a responsible seafood economy – will allow ongoing audits of Thai Union’s supply chains. Thai Union will also remain engaged at SFP roundtables critical to the Company’s supply chains.
SFP’s existing partners actively drive change in fisheries and aquaculture by using their leverage to mobilize improvements within their existing supply chains. Together, SFP and Thai Union – a leading example of a seafood company actively and ambitiously driving change – could amplify and scale efforts.
The partnership with SFP will also allow Thai Union to continue and deepen its participation in the Ocean Disclosure Project (ODP), with supply chain and sustainability information to be made publicly available through the ODP platform.
“Thai Union is constantly exploring new opportunities to strengthen transparency across its entire operations, and our partnership with SFP is further evidence of that unwavering commitment,” said Adam Brennan, Group Director, Sustainability at Thai Union. “A key element of this new partnership will be Thai Union’s ability to use SFP’s Seafood Metrics system, which helps businesses evaluate the sustainability of their seafood, understand the effectiveness of existing improvement efforts, and identify the most important priorities for improvements.”
“At SFP, we are working toward a world where the oceans are healthy, all seafood is produced sustainability, and everyone has access to sustainable seafood. SFP’s mission is closely aligned with Thai Union’s ambitious SeaChange® program,” said Kathryn Novak, Global Markets Director, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership. “Our new global partnership will amplify and enhance the efforts of both organizations to achieve healthy oceans and sustainable seafood.”
SFP’s Seafood Metrics will allow Thai Union to continue to improve the monitoring, transparency and traceability of its supply chains, as well as assess and monitor its global wild and farmed supply chains used in its businesses in the EU, U.S. and Asia. Seafood Metrics aggregates and tracks information on governance quality, target stock health, human rights risks, and environmental impacts in a company’s source fisheries. Additional sustainability indicators, such as certifications, Human Rights Risk Assessment, NGO ratings and traceability will be included in the monitoring.
Other actions under the partnership will include a bycatch audit of Thai Union’s tuna supply chain. Bycatch, the unintended catch of non-target species, is one of the most significant issues affecting the biological sustainability of marine fisheries. By assessing the impact of the supply chains, the Company can then take further action.
SFP is undertaking a new industry-led, international effort to protect Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species. This first-ever initiative will engage and mobilize the seafood industry, and the entire supply chain to reduce the worldwide bycatch of ETP species including sharks, seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles. This aligns with one of the key initiatives of SeaChange® and a new strategy from Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS), to protect threatened and vulnerable species.
About Thai Union
Thai Union Group PCL is the world’s seafood leader, bringing high quality, healthy, tasty and innovative seafood products to customers across the world for 45 years.
Today, Thai Union is regarded as one of the world’s leading seafood producers and is one of the largest producers of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 141.0 billion (US$ 4.5 billion) and a global workforce of more than 44,000 people who are dedicated to pioneering sustainable, innovative seafood products.
The company’s global brand portfolio includes market-leading international brands such as Chicken of the Sea, John West, Petit Navire, Parmentier, Mareblu, King Oscar, and Rügen Fisch, Thai-leading brands SEALECT, Fisho, Qfresh, Monori, OMG Meat, Bellotta and Marvo, and ingredient and supplement brands UniQ™BONE, UniQ™DHA and ZEAvita.
As a company committed to innovation and globally responsible behavior, Thai Union is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, and a founding participating company of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). In 2015, Thai Union introduced its SeaChange® sustainability strategy. Find out more at seachangesustainability.org. Thai Union’s on-going work on sustainability issues was recognized when the company was listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for the eighth consecutive year in 2021 and ranked number two in the world on the Food Products Industry Index. Thai Union was also named to the FTSE4Good Emerging Index for the fifth straight year in 2020.
About SFP
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) is a US-registered non-profit that operates globally to rebuild depleted fish stocks, reduce the environmental and social impacts of fishing and fish farming, and ensure sustained economic opportunities for fishing communities worldwide. SFP leverages the power of retailers, seafood buyers, and their supply chains to promote the sustainable production of seafood.