Stop & Shop Boosts Seafood Sourcing Transparency
Stop & Shop has joined forces with the Ocean Disclosure Project (ODP) to voluntarily report its seafood sources. The partnership adds yet another layer of transparency to the supermarket chain’s comprehensive seafood policy. While Stop & Shop’s existing policy ensures that its seafood is sourced only from sustainable and traceable fisheries and farms, the collaboration with the ODP will now make information on the original sources of Stop & Shop’s private label and wild-caught seafood available to customers.
Established in 2015 by the Honolulu-based Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, the ODP is a global platform for voluntary disclosure of seafood sourcing.
“As an East Coast retailer, fish is an important part of our business, as is how we source it,” said Gordon Reid, president of Quincy, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop. “With the approaching Lenten season, it’s important our customers know how committed we are to sustainable seafood practices, and this additional layer of transparency will help us do just that.”
“By voluntarily participating in the Ocean Disclosure Project, Stop & Shop has demonstrated its willingness to be held accountable for its seafood commitments and to provide more transparency,” noted Tania Woodcock, project manager for the ODP. “Stop & Shop’s disclosure reveals that its sourcing practices are aligned with its sustainable seafood policy.”
Stop & Shop also partners with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), a nonprofit organization that helps to assess whether seafood items delivered to the retailer’s stores meet the criteria established by its seafood policy. Through this collaboration, Stop & Shop and GMRI work with seafood suppliers to ensure traceability to the fishery or farm source for all seafood products sold in the company’s 400-plus stores throughout the Northeast.
“Tracing seafood to its source is an important part of Stop & Shop’s policy, enabling them to be transparent about those sources,” said Kyle Foley, senior program manager for Portland-based GMRI. “Joining the Ocean Disclosure Project is a strong demonstration of Stop & Shop’s commitment to transparency around their seafood and one more way to contribute to the global efforts to improve the sustainability of seafood.”
Besides its work with GMRI and the ODP, Stop & Shop recycled more than 350 million pounds of material, including plastics and cardboard, last year, and has made investments in local environmental conservation groups.
Stop & Shop’s seafood-sourcing profile can be viewed online at the ODP’s website.
Last year, two of Stop & Shop's sister Ahold Delhaize USA banners, Food Lion and Giant Food, also formed partnerships with ODP.
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. LLC, an Ahold Delhaize USA company, employs nearly 60,000 associates and operates more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey. Ahold Delhaize USA is No. 11 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
