FIVE OF UK’S TOP SUPERMARKETS UNITE TO REDUCE FISHMEAL AND OIL USAGE

Five of UK’s top supermarkets unite to reduce fishmeal and oil usage . By signing up to the WWF Basket Blueprint, the CEOs of Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose have committed to halve their overall impact on the natural world by 2030.

These five supermarkets alone provide for 50% of UK shoppers meaning that, once these commitments are met, millions of UK families will be making a greener weekly shop. The move is unprecedented and has resulted in widespread media coverage.

The WWF blueprint outlines over 100 steps that food retailers can take to protect nature and has the potential to transform our food system and regenerate our forests, rivers and seas.  The commitment to this blueprint by these leading retailers has been hailed as game changing by the WWF who hopes other food retailers will soon follow their lead.

The WWF’s Basket Metrics, to which the five UK supermarkets have signed up, includes pledges to protect natural marine biodiversity and actions to move to more sustainable, environmentally friendly aquaculture practices. Including:

• 100% of seafood from sustainable sources by 2030
• Reduce fishmeal and fish oil usage to FFDR<1 by using sustainable fishmeal and fish oil replacements
• All feeds used in farmed fish should be sourced from ASC certified feed mills or equivalent

One of the most impactful ways for retailers to reduce fishmeal and fish oil usage to FFDR <1 is to source aquaculture raised fish that have been fed on a diet where algal oil has been used as an alternative to fish oil. Tesco has long been arguing the benefits of algal oil and is working with suppliers to explore how more algal oil can be incorporated into the diets of fish that it sells. Read the full article here. In the article, Tesco confirms its support for innovations such as algal oil which can help to reduce the reliance of aquaculture on wild-caught fish.

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