Hannaford Rolls Out Sustainable Seafood Policy

Hannaford Supermarkets has implemented a sustainable seafood policy encompassing the entire store, from fresh fish and shellfish, to canned and packaged items, to frozen products, according to published reports. Scarborough, Maine-based Hannaford said it was the “first and only” major grocery operator to put in place the “broadest sustainable seafood policy.”

At a May 23 in-store press conference Hannaford sustainability manager George Parmenter said the grocer worked with the Portland-based Gulf of Maine Research Institute to develop the new policy, which traces each of more than 2,500 products back to its source.

The chain’s policy for wild-caught seafood requires products to come from fisheries under a scientifically based management plan, while the policy on farmed seafood stipulates that production doesn’t adversely affect communities, workers, the environment or human health. Hannaford said that more than 50 products, including mackerel, clam, snapper, tuna and crab varieties, have been replaced by sustainably harvested items.

During the conference, Parmenter noted that each product can be traced to its origin through an online system, while an audit protocol includes spot checks to ensure the products continue to meet the grocer’s standards. All 181 Hannaford stores have adopted the policy, as well as the retailer’s sister U.S. banners owned by their parent company, the Delhaize Group, based in Brussels.

Hannaford said that the policy took three years to develop.