Loblaw’s Sustainable Seafood Commitment Progress Report Reveals Company on Track

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) BRAMPTON, ON – July 7, 2011 – Increasing the number and availability of responsibly sourced seafood and products with seafood ingredients, consumer education and industry collaboration are the key drivers behind ensuring that Loblaw Companies Limited will achieve 100 per cent sustainable seafood by year-end 2013. Today the Company provides its annual sustainable seafood progress report and outlines its goals for the next 12 months. 

“We are moving into an exciting point of our journey, marked with notable achievements including introducing WiseSource™ Salmon, a more responsibly farmed Atlantic Salmon, and altering our procurement practice for fresh swordfish to pole and line or harpoon to launching an education website oceansfortomorrow.ca,” said Paul Uys, vice president, sustainable seafood, Loblaw Companies Limited. “We have a way to go, and it remains a daunting task, but we are on track to reach our goal of 100 per cent sustainable seafood by year-end 2013.”   Quotes:   “Loblaw’s progress report, showing they have nearly tripled the number of MSC-certified sustainable products available for sale in just one year, marks a major milestone in their commitment to reach 100 per cent certified sustainable seafood and fish products,” said Kerry Coughlin, Marine Stewardship Council Regional Director, Americas. “We applaud their leadership and are proud to partner with Loblaw and its customers, who will have an impact on sustainability that extends far beyond Canada to help protect fish stocks and fishing livelihoods around the world for future generations.”   “Loblaw is changing the face of the seafood industry through their commitment to sourcing 100 per cent of their seafood products sustainably,” said Hadley Archer, Vice-President of Strategic Partnerships, WWF. “We’re very proud to be a partner in this important initiative and congratulate Loblaw on successfully hitting key milestones and making significant advances in every area we have collaborated on.”   “At True North Salmon Company, we are committed to environmental stewardship and providing our customers with high quality products,” said Glenn Cooke, the company’s CEO. “Our partnership with Loblaw and our joint commitment to sustainable farming methods has become a very important milestone in our company’s culture of continuous improvement and ongoing investment in research and innovation.”   "We applaud Loblaw for making progress towards their sustainable seafood commitment” said Rob Johnson, SeaChoice representative from Ecology Action Centre. “Their actions to increase sourcing of sustainably caught wild seafood is a commendable step towards healthier oceans.”   "As a leader of conservation, the Toronto Zoo, Canada's premier Zoo, is committed to raising awareness about the importance of sustainable seafood and what is needed to help preserve our oceans," said John Tracogna, CEO Toronto Zoo. "We were very proud to have Loblaw as the presenting sponsor of the Seafood For Thought ™ event this year and congratulate them on their shared commitment to sustainability."   May 2010 to May 2011 Sustainable Seafood Progress Report: During the reporting period of May 2010 to May 2011, Loblaw’s achievements:   More responsible seafood options available for consumers ·         Exceeded goal to double the number of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified wild-caught seafood products available to customers. Loblaw has introduced 47 MSC-certified products; up from 16 in May 2010. ·         Worked with Canadian salmon farmers to introduce WiseSource™ Salmon, a more responsibly farmed Atlantic Salmon, at participating stores in Ontario and Quebec. ·         Altered our procurement practices for fresh swordfish – participating stores sell fresh swordfish caught by using pole and line or harpoon, which helps reduce the unintentional by-catch of other species. ·         Adopted a policy of selling 100 per cent International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) canned tuna to facilitate a transition by suppliers to adopt MSC certification. Currently, 95 per cent of the canned tuna we sell in our stores are supplied by vendors who are committed to the policy.   Industry Collaboration ·         Launched proprietary vendor questionnaire to effectively assess and manage our seafood buying process.  ·         Continued to work towards appropriate solutions to manage “species at risk” in partnership with the fishing industry, WWF and our independent marine science advisor. ·         Engaged various levels of government, non-government organizations and other stakeholders to assist in the implementation of stated commitment.   Customer engagement ·         Educated and informed customers about our commitment by launching a national public awareness campaign in store, created a seafood website – www.oceansfortomorrow.ca and Loblaw Sustainable Seafood Facebook page, and offered secondary schools across Canada the opportunity to view End of the Line documentary.

  May 2011 to May 2012 Sustainable Seafood Targets: For the reporting period of May 2011 to May 2012, Loblaw will focus on:   Continuing to work with partners and suppliers to drive progress in new and meaningful ways ·         Increase number of MSC-certified products to 80 by expanding MSC-certified seafood offering at fresh seafood counters and encouraging national brand suppliers to provide additional MSC-certified products. ·         Support the transition to more responsible aquaculture by expanding availability of WiseSource™ Salmon in Eastern Canada stores, introducing Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certified farmed seafood and pursuing a viable solution for closed containment aquaculture. ·         Use data from our proprietary vendor questionnaire, identify and take steps to manage “high risk” species or stock, both wild and farmed, and vendors who are unable or unwilling to meet our criteria.   Continuing industry collaboration ·         With WWF, government and industry for a definitive recovery plan to rebuild and manage East Coast Atlantic cod. ·         With scientific advisors and environmental partners on a responsible procurement practice for tuna species, particularly, yellow fin tuna.   Continuing customer engagement ·          Engage and educate our customers through the oceansfortomorrow seafood website, Loblaw sustainable seafood Facebook page and in-store marketing materials. Loblaw’s sustainable seafood commitment is driven by its corporate social responsibility principle, Source with Integrity. A commitment to Source with Integrity is one of five Loblaw corporate social responsibility principles, including Respect the Environment, Make a Positive Difference in Our Community, Reflect our Nation’s Diversity and Be a Great Place to Work.   For more information about Loblaw’s commitment to source seafood from sustainable sources only by the end of 2013 please visit: www.loblaw.ca/seafood oceansfortomorrow.ca and www.facebook.com/LoblawSustainableSeafood.   About Loblaw Companies Limited Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, is Canada's largest food retailer and a leading provider of drugstore, general merchandise and financial products and services. Loblaw is one of the largest private sector employers in Canada. With more than 1,000 corporate and franchised stores from coast to coast, Loblaw and its franchisees employ more than136,000 full-time and part-time employees. Through its portfolio of store formats, Loblaw is committed to providing Canadians with a wide, growing and successful range of products and services to meet the everyday household demands of Canadian consumers. Loblaw is known for the quality, innovation and value of its food offering. It offers Canada's strongest control (private) label program, including the unique President's Choice®, no name® and Joe Fresh® brands. In addition, the Company makes available to consumers President's Choice Financial® services and offers the PC® points loyalty program.

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