World Ocean Day: Celebrating our commitments to sustainable practices in the fish and seafood category

7 June 2024

In honour of World Oceans Day, we’re celebrating our commitment to doing our part for ocean sustainability, by empowering our colleagues to contribute to a healthier planet.

Educating the wider team

As a leading UK food procurement organisation, we take our social and environmental responsibilities seriously, continually striving to improve and educate ourselves.

We are committed to fostering a responsible and safe supply chain, which is why our dedicated sustainability team, along with our food category experts, recently hosted a fish sustainability workshop. This collaborative and informative workshop aimed to educate the wider Foodbuy team about the importance of sustainability in the fish and seafood category. It was the first in a series of events, each focusing on supply chain risks and best practices in sustainability within specific food categories.

The workshop showcased Foodbuy’s key supply chain risk management initiatives within the seafood space and provided a platform for the team to learn from key industry stakeholders, with presentations from the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and our trusted supplier, Direct Seafoods.

Volunteering initiatives

In May, members of our team rolled up their sleeves for a beach clean at Littlehampton beach in partnership with MCS.

Whilst cleaning the beach of marine litter, the team took part in MCS’ invaluable research by documenting each item they found. This data is hugely important as it allows MCS to trace litter back to its source and enables them to campaign for change, helping keep Britain's beaches clean and our oceans safer for wildlife.

Community initiatives such as this empower our colleagues to actively contribute to a healthier planet.

Our commitment to responsible sourcing

These initiatives are just a few of the ways in which we highlight our commitment to educating our team on the impact that responsible sourcing can have. Some of our achievements so far include:

• We are committed to only sourcing products with the lowest risk of bycatch and habitat damage by aligning our purchasing with MCS’ Good Fish Guide, selecting 1-3 rated products only.
• We have removed all MCS’ ‘Good Fish Guide’ 4 and 5 rated fish and seafood products since 2021.
• Since 2022, we have sourced tinned tuna caught using pole and line, trolling, and handline (hook and lines) methods only to minimise risk of bycatch.

To find out more about what we are doing to champion sustainability in procurement, visit: https://www.foodbuy.co.uk/sustainability/