Target Commits to Sustainable Seafood
Through key partnerships, Target Corp. has pledged to sell only sustainable and traceable seafood in its stores by 2015.
This initiative will be achieved through a partnership with FishWise and continued engagement with industry and vendor partners, and will apply to all of Target’s fresh and frozen seafood products.
“When Target eliminated farmed salmon in favor of wild-caught salmon last year, we took the first step in a long-term commitment to improving the sustainability of our seafood assortment,” said Shawn Gensch, VP of marketing, who oversees the Minneapolis-based retailer’s sustainability programs. “As we continue toward 100 percent sustainable seafood, guests can shop with confidence knowing that Target’s seafood products are both healthy for their family and environmentally responsible.”
Target defines sustainable and traceable seafood as the sourcing of seafood products that are caught or raised in an environmentally sensitive manner and maintain Target’s business needs without jeopardizing the affected ecosystems. For example, Target’s seafood assortment has been transitioning to more sustainable products over the past two years, including the elimination of Chilean sea bass, orange roughy and farmed salmon from all stores. To achieve its plan to source only sustainable seafood by 2015, Target has partnered with FishWise, a nonprofit organization that works with seafood companies to implement environmentally responsible business practices.
“Target has shown itself to be a leader in sustainable seafood,” said Tobias Aguirre, executive director at FishWise. “This new and deeper 2015 commitment should both serve as an example for the rest of the industry and result in real change on the water.”
Over the next few years, Target plans to:
- Continue to engage suppliers to identify and provide the most responsible seafood options for its guests.
- Encourage source fisheries and farms to enter into improvement projects that result in credible certification and verifiable change.
- Continue transitioning Market Pantry and Archer Farms brands to more sustainable seafood products.
- Educate guests about seafood sustainability and encourage them to make informed seafood purchases.
- Continue sourcing seafood products from third-party certified fisheries and farms.
- Engage with the appropriate government agencies, NGOs, industry groups and certification bodies to trace seafood from the supply chain to its source.
Progress on Target’s sustainable seafood initiatives, along with all of Target’s sustainability commitments, can be followed at Target.com/hereforgood.
Target operates 1,767 stores across the United States and will open its first stores in Canada in 2013.