Crab Council Membership to be Shown on Supplier Directory Site

Visitors to www.CrabSuppliers.com will soon have a new tool to help them select where they source their product. The website will begin featuring the National Fisheries Institute’s (NFI) Crab Council logo beside member companies featured in its online directory.

Already offering scores that rate suppliers in the areas of sustainability, traceability and business integrity, the site is one of 16 species-specific online directories that give buyers free access to profiles of 2,200 of the industry’s most trustworthy suppliers.

“Our organizations share a strong interest in identifying suppliers who are committed to sustainability,” noted Neal Workman, CEO of SeafoodDirectory.com. “Buyers using our sites have clearly indicated that sustainability is a key differentiator when evaluating supply partners.”

Started in 2009, the Washington-based NFI Crab Council invests in fisheries improvement plans in Indonesia, the Philippines and now Vietnam. The group, comprising 17 companies, is primarily self-funded but has received support from The World Bank and the Walton Family Foundation.

“The council works by levying an assessment on participating companies based on the pounds of blue swimming crab they import,” said council chair Ed Rhodes of Baltimore-based seafood supplier Phillips Foods. “So it’s important for customers to know that by buying from these companies, they are directly supporting sustainability initiatives.”