What progress did retailers make in the months before the pandemic hit?

All major Canadian retailers have commitments to protect the world’s last major wild food source, but each commitment is unique and can translate into a wide range of actions and seafood choices. SeaChoice developed Seafood Progress to give Canadian consumers information about retailers’ sustainable seafood commitments and how well they are performing against them. Seafood Progress uses 21 key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess retailers against the six steps that form the vision for sustainable seafood developed by environmental groups across North America.

This global pandemic that reached Canada in 2020 highlighted the importance that grocery stores play in our lives. As we start to look towards recovery, focusing on sustainable and responsible business practices is essential to protect vulnerable people, ecosystems, and consumer trust. But when it comes to seafood, most Canadian retailers have made limited progress in the past year.

Nationally, there was only a 3.3 per cent improvement in performance over all indicators. Two retailers’ scores on their social responsibility commitments, under Step 1, decreased because they do not have clear requirements and expectations for suppliers. When effectively designed and implemented, these requirements help prevent human rights abuses and other poor practices in the supply chain.

There was also some good news though. In the past year, two retailers started disclosing how much of their fresh and frozen products meet their commitments. This is a significant step forward because a retailer’s impact on sustainable seafood production is only as good as its actual practices. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words.

Click the image on the right to read our short, Year 3 report. Or, go to Seafood Progress now and see how your retailer is doing. If you’d like to see them do better – or you’d like to give them a pat on the back – you can use the tweet buttons on their profile overview, or contact their customer service department directly.