06/10/2017
6 OCTOBER 2017, MALTA – Today at the high-level conference “Our Ocean” organized by the European Commission in Malta, Sylvain Cuperlier, Thai Union’s CSR and Sustainability Director for Europe, presented the company’s global commitment to 100 percent sustainable tuna.
“As part of its sustainability strategy, SeaChange® , Thai Union committed to sourcing 100 percent of its branded tuna from fisheries that are either Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified, or engaged in Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs) to move them towards MSC certification, with the objective of achieving a minimum of 75 percent by the end of 2020,” said Sylvain Cuperlier, during the panel session dedicated to sustainable fisheries.
Since 2014, Our Ocean conferences have invited world leaders to deliver high-level commitments in six areas of action: marine protected seas, climate change, marine pollution, sustainable blue economy, maritime security and sustainable fisheries.
Thai Union is one of the world’s largest seafood producers with brands like John West, Petit Navire, Mareblu, King Oscar, Rügen Fisch and Chicken of the Sea.
As a world leader in the seafood sector, ensuring the seas are sustainable now and for future generations is one of Thai Union’s key objectives. Its global sustainability strategy, SeaChange®, covers every aspect of its seafood business: from how the company looks after the oceans to how it manages waste; from the responsibility it takes for its workers to its support for local communities.
Thai Union will invest $90 million USD in initiatives to help increase the supply of sustainable tuna, and has allied with a number of partners, including WWF, MSC, Legambiente and the Global Sustainable Seafood Initiative.
Among these initiatives, Thai Union will establish 11 new tuna FIPs around the world. A FIP is a program to move a fishery towards the level of the MSC certification, ensuring sustainable fish stocks, minimized environmental impacts, and improved management of the fishery.
This year, in collaboration with WWF and other partners, Thai Union has already launched a tuna FIP in the Indian Ocean, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a tuna FIP in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and, last week, for a tuna FIP in Brazil. Once the FIP partnership agreements are signed, the FIPs will be registered on fisheryprogress.org.
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About Thai Union
Thai Union PCL is the world’s seafood leader bringing high quality, healthy, tasty and innovative seafood products to customers across the world for almost 40 years. Today, Thai Union is regarded as the world’s largest producer of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 125 billion (USD 3.7 billion) and a global workforce of over 46,000 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, Mareblu, King Oscar, and Rügen Fisch and Thai-leading brands SEALECT, Fisho, Bellotta and Marvo. 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 member of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). In 2015, Thai Union introduced its SeaChange® sustainability strategy. Thai Union’s on-going work on sustainability issues was recognized by its inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices Emerging Markets (DJSI) in 2014. In 2017 Thai Union was named to DJSI for the fourth consecutive year. Thai Union has also been included in the FTSE4Good Emerging Index.