Seafood firm Thai Union, which owns brands such as John West, Petit Navire and King Oscar, has outlined new goals as part of its sustainability strategy, under which it will seek to influence the 'entire seafood value chain on a global scale'.
The group is allocating THB 7.2 billion (€182.8 million) of funding towards the 'SeaChange 2030' strategy, details of which were announced last month.
Thai Union made the announcement as it published its Sustainability Report for 2022, which saw the group achieve a 7% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gases on a year-on-year basis, conduct the first ever 'at-sea audit' to assess working conditions and welfare of the crew on longline vessels, enter a partnership with the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership to further improve transparency across its supply chain, and a variety of other initiatives.
'Great Ambition'
“Thai Union is a company with great ambition, and our global sustainability strategy is an integral part of our goal to become the world’s most trusted seafood leader,” commented Thiraphong Chansiri, CEO of Thai Union Group.
“To achieve that goal, we must continue to be an industry leader, and this report demonstrates how Thai Union has continued to develop and implement initiatives and programs that deliver the positive change that will help transform the seafood industry. We recognise that there continue to be enormous challenges, but we have the ambition to tackle them, as evidenced by our new SeaChange 2030 strategy."
Another achievement by the group last year was an increase in the percentage of tuna purchased from vessels equipped with electronic monitoring and/or human observers, from a 71% baseline in 2021 to 79%.
'Making Progress'
“We’re proud of the progress Thai Union continued to make in 2022, and our new Sustainability Report details the company’s performance against key performance indicators and targets,” added Adam Brennan, chief sustainability officer, at Thai Union Group.
Last year saw the company listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for the ninth straight year.
