FMI Establishes Industry Toolkit on Sustainable Seafood Sourcing

At the FMI2012 Sustainability Solutions Center, the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) released its first Sustainable Seafood Toolkit, a free resource providing food retail answers to the integration and implementation of seafood sustainability procurement policies and procedures. “Selling fresh seafood in grocery stores certainly isn’t a new concept, with more than 92 percentof retailers offering this product, but the sustainable seafood trend is, and it’s growing,” says Jeanne von Zastrow, senior director of sustainability and industry relations at FMI. “In order to be on-trend with consumer demand, FMI has created this comprehensive document to get our industry thinking about how seafood relates to a company’s social responsibility, consumer interests and bottom line.” Created by FMI’s Sustainable Seafood Committee (SSC) and funded by Bumblebee Foods, LLC, this guidance document cites industry expertise on how to approach sustainable seafood sourcing. The SSC provided helpful steps for development and implementation across data collection, procurement, education and reform. The toolkit features best practices and case studies among retailers, suppliers and non-governmental organizations.