Peter is a seafood industry veteran who has built a strong network of seafood buyers and suppliers over the course of a distinguished career in sustainability and procurement, including 17 years at Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, where he was responsible for implementing their seafood sustainability commitments. He will lead commercial engagements and outreach for the programme in the United States and Canada.
“We are excited to welcome Peter to our growing Americas team in this new position as Vice President of Market Development,” said Chris Ninnes, CEO of ASC. “He will lead our retail and supply chain focused work, linking certified supply to a growing demand for ASC products in the market. With his appointment to the America’s team Peter joins a growing number of ASC staff in the region including Contessa Kellogg-Winters who heads up ASC's global communications team, Colin Brannen, Standards Technical Coordinator, whose main focus is on the development of new standards, and Laurent Viguie, who leads our commercial work in Brazil.”
The Americas region is not only the base of expanding farming operations for salmon, shrimp, tilapia, bivalves and many other finfish, it also contains both the United States—the single most important market outside of China for farmed fish—and Brazil, which is one of the fastest growing markets for farmed fish in the world.
Esther Luiten, Commercial Director of the ASC said: "The time is right for us to provide more direct support for many of our certified farms that are supplying into these important markets and respond directly to the encouragement that many of them have given us to take this step.
“With the expanded ASC staff in the Americas, we will be able to service companies already working with our programme even better and expand interest amongst others. This is key to delivering on our mission to bring meaningful positive change for both the environment and the people who depend on aquaculture for their livelihoods. Our unique performance-based standards, together with the transparency of our programme and the easy to recognize ASC-logo on consumer facing products, are fundamental to our effort to promote and reward those producers who operate responsibly.”
“I am thrilled to be working back in the seafood sector with ASC,” said Peter. “As I anticipate engaging with the retail and food service sector, I am so excited at the opportunities that ASC can bring to the market place. I look forward to seeing a lot of old friends in the coming months, along with making a lot of new ones.”
