Wakefern Joins Growing List Of BAP Retail Adopters

Wakefern Food Corp. is the latest retailer to adopt the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s (GAA) Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification for farmed seafood.

Wakefern Food Corp. recently confirmed its commitment to the BAP program and will work with its suppliers to meet sustainability goals through BAP certification at both the farm and processor levels.

The nation’s largest retailer-owned cooperative, which is comprised of 47 member companies that own and operate 230 supermarkets under the ShopRite banner throughout New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, also has plans in place to require feed and hatchery certification.

"Wakefern is committed to providing its ShopRite customers with seafood that is sustainably sourced," said Karen Meleta, Wakefern’s VP of consumer and corporate communications. "Participating in the BAP program provides us with the assurance that our farm-raised seafood suppliers are employing environmentally and socially responsible practices."

GAA’s BAP is an international certification program based on global performance standards for the entire aquaculture supply chain -- farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills -- to ensure production through environmentally and socially responsible means.

Noting how the program “can make a positive difference on a global scale," Peter Redmond, GAA’s VP of global market development, said, "The growth of sustainable aquaculture is at the heart of GAA, and every endorsement of our standards gives us increased comfort with the future of aquaculture."

In addition to its member-owned ShopRite stores, Wakefern also has 45 PriceRite stores in five states and serves as a distributor for other supermarkets throughout the northeastern United States and Bermuda.