Coles has been named Australia’s Best Sustainable Seafood Supermarket, having retained the title since 2017.
The Marine Stewardship Council’s Sustainable Seafood Awards Australia recognise people and organisations which work to help protect seafood sources for future generations.
The annual awards are run in partnership with the Aquaculture Stewardship Council. Coles uses the MSC’s independent third-party certification program to help mitigate potential environmental issues related to fishing and to maintain traceable certified sourcing in the supply chain of eligible Coles Own Brand wild-caught seafood.
Coles was recognised as Australia’s Best Sustainable Seafood Supermarket for supporting the MSC mission and carrying 30 products with the official ‘blue fish tick’ logo.
Coles chief executive commercial and express, Greg Davis, said he was proud to see Coles recognised for responsible sourcing, helping to ensure Australian customers could eat seafood for generations to come.
“100 per cent of Coles Own Brand seafood is responsibly sourced. This means the farms and fisheries we work with are all independently certified or assessed to help reduce potential environmental risks, including impacts on surrounding ecosystems, illegal and unregulated fishing, and overfishing,” he said.
“Coles Own Brand MSC certified seafood is the third most popular brand sold in Australia and Coles’ MSC certified fresh fish counters rank in the top 3 globally, according to MSC volume data (2020/2021).”
“We are delighted to recognise the hard work and dedication of all those involved at Coles who share MSC’s vision of ensuring wild-caught seafood supplies for future generations,” said MSC Oceania program director Anne Gabriel.
“With the impacts of climate change on our ocean growing, sustainable fishing practices are more important than ever.”
Coles’ Responsibly Sourced Seafood Policy, its commitment to supporting MSC-certified fisheries, and team member training practices were all commended as part of the award.
The award comes as Coles was last year ranked second out of 62 food retailers globally for sustainable business practices in the World Benchmarking Alliance’s 2021 Food and Agriculture Benchmark, the highest ranking for an Australian supermarket.