Thai Union Group PCL has retained its leading position on the Seafood Stewardship Index (SSI) for the third consecutive time, the company noted in a statement.
The John West-maker has been recognised for its consistent efforts in fostering positive change and contributing towards its progress in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
Adam Brennan, chief sustainability officer at Thai Union Group, said, “With a score of 47.5 out of 100, it is clear that Thai Union and the rest of the industry still has immense challenges ahead of us.
“We are ambitious at Thai Union, and through SeaChange 2030 – the next stage of our sustainability strategy – we are increasing and broadening our efforts through 11 interconnected goals that will drive global impact while supporting the delivery of ten of the UN SDGs that are material to us.”
The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), which evaluates the SSI, assessed 30 of the largest and most influential companies in the seafood industry, across areas such as governance and strategy, ecosystems, traceability, and social responsibility.
Social Responsibility
The WBA stated that Thai Union ranked on top for social responsibility, for ‘distinguishing itself from its peers by its efforts to ensure decent working and living conditions on board fishing vessels, while monitoring for compliance and providing evidence of improvements.’
In the area of traceability, Thai Union’s efforts were recognised for various measures, including the seafood giant’s consistent and thorough disclosure on the Ocean Disclosure Project.
The project offers a global platform for seafood businesses to publicly share details on the sourcing of their seafood, governance, and strategy-for-disclosing process, for identifying and prioritising the most relevant sustainability impacts, as well as the outcome of this process.
Thiraphong Chansiri, CEO at Thai Union Group, added, “We recognise that, to achieve our vision, we must deliver impactful change across not only our own operations, but our global-sourcing footprint.
“We’re proud of what we have achieved in driving positive change while acknowledging that there are many challenges ahead. Thai Union remains deeply committed to the ongoing pursuit of programmes and initiatives that deliver positive outcomes for both people and planet.”
