Loblaw First Major Canadian Retailer to Introduce Fresh Certified Sustainable Seafood

Select Loblaws grocery stores in GTA to offer fresh Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified seafood
Jun 30, 2011 4:00 PM ET
Campaign: Loblaw's Sustainable Seafood Commitment

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) BRAMPTON, ON - June 30, 2011 - Seafood lovers can now purchase Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified Pacific sockeye salmon, Pacific cod, Pacific halibut and Atlantic haddock at the fresh seafood counter at select Loblaws stores in theGreater Toronto Area (GTA). To complement the new fresh MSC-certified seafood from Loblaw, select GTA area President's Choice® Cooking Schools will offer sustainable seafood focused cooking classes.

The MSC is the world's leading certification and ecolabelling program for sustainable wild caught seafood. The MSC ecolabel can only be used once there has been independent verification that the seafood product being sold originated from a certified sustainable fishery.

"We know that Loblaw customers will feel just as good as we do that sustainable seafood is now available from our fresh seafood counters," says Paul Uys, vice-president, sustainable seafood, Loblaw Companies Limited. "Despite this exciting progress there is a lot more work to be done - on our own and with others - to accelerate the pace at which we can make available more MSC-certified products in coming months - stay tuned!"

MSC certification is one of few global sustainable seafood standards that relies on third party validation. To gain MSC certificationLoblaw was assessed by an independent certifier to ensure Loblaw met MSC chain of custody standards. These standards ensure MSC-certified fresh fish is kept separate from other seafood from the time it leaves the fishery to when it is purchased by a consumer. This includes transport, receiving, handling, storage and display.

"Loblaw's commitment to sell only certified sustainable seafood by year end 2013 puts them among top industry leaders whose policies translate into actions that will have a significant impact on preserving our oceans and seafood resources," said Kerry Coughlin, MSC  Regional Director, Americas. "The Marine Stewardship Council applauds Loblaw for the introduction of fresh MSC-certified seafood in stores."

Customer Awareness Initiatives:

President's Choice® Cooking School Sustainable Seafood Classes
Loblaw is hosting sustainable seafood cooking classes at select President's Choice® Cooking School locations during the week ofJune 19, 2011. Please visit these individual stores for more information.

  • Loblaws Queens Quay

  • Loblaws Forest Hill

  • Loblaws Burnhamthorpe Market

  • Loblaws Bayview Village

  • Loblaws Glen Erin Market

  • Loblaws Richmond Hill (High Tech Road)

  • Loblaws Empress Market

    For store addresses please visit www.loblaws.ca.

Toronto Zoo Seafood For Thought™ Sponsorship
Loblaw Companies is honoured to be presenting sponsor of the annual Toronto Zoo Seafood for ThoughtTM Fundraiser onWednesday, June 22, 2011. This culinary conservation event raises awareness of the importance of purchasing sustainable seafood. Toronto's top chefs will come together to prepare delicious tastings using sustainable seafood for event guests to sample. The unique and elegant outdoor setting, delicious tastings, wine and brewery pairings and of course some wild animal encounters makes Seafood for ThoughtTM this year's fundraising event not to be missed. Proceeds from Seafood for ThoughtTM support theToronto Zoo's Conservation Fund for projects that protect wildlife and wild spaces. For more information or to purchase tickets please visit torontozoo.com

Loblaw continues to work to increase the number of MSC-certified products available in store and now offers MSC-certified no name® canned pink salmon and no name® canned sockeye salmon. In addition to working with MSC for wild-caught seafood,Loblaw continues to work with its suppliers to provide customers with seafood cultivated using the most sustainable methods available. For example, earlier this year;Loblaw introduced WiseSourceTM Salmon in Ontario and Quebec, a more responsibly sourced farmed Atlantic salmon raised using the Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) method. It is exclusive to Loblaw inCanada.

Loblaw retail store locations offering MSC-certified fresh seafood:
The following locations now offer fresh MSC-certified seafood: 

  • Loblaws Queens Quay

  • Loblaws Richmond Hill (High Tech Road)

  • Loblaws Forest Hill

  • Loblaws Empress Market

  • Loblaws Burnhamthorpe Market

  • Loblaws Millwood & Laird

  • Loblaws Bayview Village

  • Loblaws Bayview & Moore

  • Loblaws Glen Erin Market

  • Loblaws Yonge & Yonge

For store addresses please visit www.loblaws.ca.

About Loblaw Seafood Sustainability Commitment
Loblaw's sustainable seafood commitment is driven by one of its corporate social responsibility principles,Source with Integrity. InMay 2009, Loblaw made a commitment to source all seafood sold in its corporate and franchised locations from sustainable sources by the end of 2013. Affecting more than 50 per cent of in-store departments, this commitment covers all canned, frozen, fresh, wild and farmed seafood products, in all categories, across all brands.

Additional information about Loblaw's commitment to sustainable seafood can be found at www.oceansfortomorrow.ca, and onFacebook at www.facebook.com/LoblawSustainableSeafood.

A commitment to Source with Integrity is one of five Loblaw corporate social responsibility principles, which also includes Respect the Environment, Make a Positive Difference in our Community, Reflect our Nation's Diversity and Be A Great Place to Work.

About Loblaw Companies Limited
Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, is Canada's largest food retailer and a leading provider of drugstore, general merchandise and financial products and services. Loblaw is one of the largest private sector employers inCanada. With more than 1,000 corporate and franchised stores from coast to coast, Loblaw and its franchisees employ more than136,000 full-time and part-time employees. Through its portfolio of store formats, Loblaw is committed to providing Canadians with a wide, growing and successful range of products and services to meet the everyday household demands of Canadian consumers. Loblaw is known for the quality, innovation and value of its food offering. It offers Canada's strongest control (private) label program, including the unique President's Choice®, no name® and Joe Fresh® brands. In addition, the Company makes available to consumers President's Choice Financial® services and offers the PC® points loyalty program.

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