AUSTIN, Texas (August 22, 2018) – Whole Foods Market earned the top spot on Greenpeace’s 2018 Supermarket Seafood Ranking for the fifth time. The company earned the highest overall score of the 22 U.S supermarkets surveyed, as well as the top individual score for policy, for launching new sustainable tuna standards in 2017, and for advocating for policy improvements in fisheries management.
Whole Foods Market was recognized as the first national retailer to set rigorous sustainability and traceability requirements for canned tuna. The policy requires that all its canned tuna be sourced from fisheries using one-by-one catch methods, which prevent bycatch and create more jobs in coastal communities. These fisheries must either be certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council or rated green or yellow by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and The Safina Center. Every supplier must also use electronic traceability software that tracks each lot of tuna at every point from vessels to can. The traceability data are continuously crosschecked to help verify sourcing and prevent illegally-caught or unauthorized fish from entering the supply chain.
“We appreciate being recognized again by Greenpeace for our work on seafood sustainability,” said Carrie Brownstein, global seafood quality standards coordinator for Whole Foods Market. “By continuing to advance our sourcing policies and practices, and advocate for improvements in fisheries management and traceability, we hope to inspire the entire seafood industry to turn the tide toward greater sustainability.”
In addition to its sustainable tuna policy, Whole Foods Market has sustainability standards for all of its fresh and frozen seafood, all of which must either be certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council or rated green or yellow by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and The Safina Center. Additionally, all of the retailer’s farmed seafood must meet its industry-leading aquaculture standards, which include third-party on-site audits.
In this year’s report, Greenpeace ranks 22 U.S. supermarkets based on their sustainable seafood sourcing policies, public policy engagement and advocacy, transparency and communications to customers, and the inventory of what seafood is sold.
