After its victory last week in persuading Asda to delist some seafood species, Greenpeace UK this week hit the campaign trail to bring five more multiples into line with its way of thinking.
Greenpeace has written to the fish buying or corporate responsibility teams at Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons, Somerfield, Iceland and the Co-operative societies demanding they put out full policies on sustainable seafood sourcing in the manner of Waitrose and M&S.
More than 100 active supporter groups were this
week protesting outside branches of the six chains handing out a leaflet to consumers entitled The Last Supper. The leaflet asks consumers to ‘eat less fish’ and urges people not to buy species such as cod, plaice and tuna. Head of Greenpeace’s oceans campaign Sarah Duthie said that for the moment supporter groups were sticking to leaflets and asking the public to sign and hand in plaice-shaped protest cards to store managers. Protesters outside an Asda last week took to the roof. “We have no plans to do that immediately but we are not ruling it out,” said Duthie. “Ninety per cent of seafood is sold through supermarkets. These chains may have the beginnings of a policy but it is not comprehensive.”
Tesco told The Grocer this week that it acknowledged consumer concern about the issue. A spokesman said: “Tesco recognises that we can only continue to meet customer demands if we play our part in protecting the long-term future of wild fish populations.
“We are committed to sustainability and understand this is a concern for our customers. We promote sustainable species and work to improve sustainability.”
A Sainsbury spokeswoman said the chain had recently overhauled its policies and had developed a strategic plan that ensured the fish it sold came only from “healthy stocks”.
Kit Davies
Greenpeace has written to the fish buying or corporate responsibility teams at Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons, Somerfield, Iceland and the Co-operative societies demanding they put out full policies on sustainable seafood sourcing in the manner of Waitrose and M&S.
More than 100 active supporter groups were this
week protesting outside branches of the six chains handing out a leaflet to consumers entitled The Last Supper. The leaflet asks consumers to ‘eat less fish’ and urges people not to buy species such as cod, plaice and tuna. Head of Greenpeace’s oceans campaign Sarah Duthie said that for the moment supporter groups were sticking to leaflets and asking the public to sign and hand in plaice-shaped protest cards to store managers. Protesters outside an Asda last week took to the roof. “We have no plans to do that immediately but we are not ruling it out,” said Duthie. “Ninety per cent of seafood is sold through supermarkets. These chains may have the beginnings of a policy but it is not comprehensive.”
Tesco told The Grocer this week that it acknowledged consumer concern about the issue. A spokesman said: “Tesco recognises that we can only continue to meet customer demands if we play our part in protecting the long-term future of wild fish populations.
“We are committed to sustainability and understand this is a concern for our customers. We promote sustainable species and work to improve sustainability.”
A Sainsbury spokeswoman said the chain had recently overhauled its policies and had developed a strategic plan that ensured the fish it sold came only from “healthy stocks”.
Kit Davies
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