Seafood sustainability award for Safeway rewards strong CSR business practices

When reviewing the positive impacts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) it would be fair to say that not all businesses are the same and that more relevant measurements, expectations and guidelines should be applied within different sectors of industry. For companies both small and large moving towards a sector by sector approach to CSR ratings should become an achievable approach and one that would bring the most value to customers, consumers, suppliers and partners. Evaluating company performance based upon CSR criteria within different industry sectors will ultimately be the best measurement for all.

One such measurement has just been awarded by Greenpeace who publish an annual retailer scorecard, the fifth annual edition of which has just been released. Which brings me back to my original point, sustainable fishing and seafood initiatives have no relevance to a company that manufactures spark plugs for example but a third party evaluation of food retailers does generate data that is valuable to the industry as a whole and consumers specifically. The global state of our oceans fish supply is not terribly healthy, with reports showing that many species have been over fished and have reached a state of serious decline. Responsible management of commercial fishing and the part of retailers play in this is becoming ever more crucial to provide better balance in the supply chain of food. A strong argument could be made about there being any possible long term sustainable approach to eating seafood and the supply thereof. The existing reality is that with our growing population global seafood consumption continues to reach new heights with 2009 setting a new record of over 145 million metric tons consumed throughout the planet. Therefore stronger laws and trade policies must be applied to resources that are already under extreme pressure which makes the Greenpeace award especially relevant.

The study ranked the top 20 grocery retailers based on the sustainability of their existing seafood practices. Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY) was ranked number one, making it the most sustainable national grocery retailer in the U.S. for seafood. A clear explanation, tracking and reporting of goals relating to seafood sustainability was a core part of the reporting and ratings. Phil Gibson, Group Director of Seafood at Safeway explained more:

“We strive to be a leader in the area of seafood sustainability and know that much remains to be done. We hope that the entire industry continues on this important path to ensuring that both the world’s oceans and the seafood industry thrive. This ranking reflects our commitment and responsibility to be a steward of our natural resources,” said Phil Gibson, Group Director of Seafood at Safeway. “We strive to be a leader in the area of seafood sustainability and know that much remains to be done. We hope that the entire industry continues on this important path to ensuring that both the world’s oceans and the seafood industry thrive.”

The Greenpeace report evaluates each retailers existing policies for seafood, current and future initiatives, practices of selling/not selling certain species that are not sustainable, product labeling and the information flow to the end consumer regarding the products. Safeway have raised the bar in recent years and have committed to his sourcing exclusively from sustainable and traceable sources by the year 2015. To help reach these goals the company has formed a partnership with FishWise are a nonprofit that partner with companies involved with the seafood supply chain to best implement environmentally sensitive practices. Simultaneously in Canada Safeway are working with SeaChoice who have become Canada’s national program for sustainable seafood. The organization was developed with the aid of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, the David Suzuki Foundation, Ecology Action Center, Living Oceans Society and Sierra Club British Columbia. Internally Safeway maintain a Sustainable Seafood Task Force which sounds rather exciting; this body assess and evaluate every aspect of the companies existing supply chain to ensure that the organization’s commitment to sustainability and improvements is in place throughout.

On the customer side Safeway have provided a restore with a thoroughly detailed brochure which explains the company’s commitment and future endeavours, to complement this additional training will be given to seafood counter employees that has been developed by FishWise. The underlying target being to increase customer awareness and promote the value of sustainable choices when purchasing seafood. Safeway continue to expand their overall CSR program in other arenas as which I think in the grocery industry provides very tangible and rapid impact as consumers can feel very engaged with the retailer in many cases visiting every week Some of those accomplishments include:

• Implemented a reuse and recycling program that allows the company to divert an estimated 490,000 tons of material from landfills last year alone
• Ranked 8th on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership program for retailers for purchasing 93 million kilowatt hours of wind energy in 2010 to offset power used by the company’s retail fuel stations, corporate headquarters and all stores in San Francisco, CA and Boulder, CO
• In 2010, completed the company’s 19th store that utilizes solar power
• Became a founding member of The Sustainability Consortium, an independent organization of diverse global participants that develops tools and strategies for improving product sustainability
• Named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America for the second consecutive year
• Built five stores to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) specifications for sustainable design, construction and operating practices

You can find out more about the Greenpeace study by following this link.

For the latest CSR and nonprofit fundraising news please follow us on Twitter!