The deal means that the supermarket is now offering four Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) labelled salmon products.
“This is good news for Brazilian shoppers, and a great opportunity to use their purchasing decisions to reward responsible salmon producers,” said Laurent Viguie, ASC’s commercial marketing manager in Brazil. “Swift and Cermaq have worked hard to give Brazilians the option of ASC certified salmon, and we will continue to work with them to ensure this is the beginning of an upward trend for responsible seafood consumption in Brazil and Latin America.”
“This important step contributes to the strategy of the brand to expand the assortment of certified fish, which already has other species such as Alaskan pollock, tilapia and cod,” said Paulo Christofani, Swift’s produce manager. “Today, certified items represent 45 percent of our seafood sales. Our short-term goal is to increase this to 65 percent, and we are always looking for sustainable options for other items.”
"We are very happy to be the first farmers to supply Brazil with this ASC certified salmon. Cermaq and our customers have done a fantastic job to be able to reach retail consumers,” said Felipe Puga, Cermaq’s sales and processing director. “Sustainability and responsible farming is one our founding strategical pillars as a global company. In the long run we aim to certify all our farming sites to the ASC Salmon Standard. Cermaq was one of the first ASC certified salmon farmers in Chile and currently we have nine certified sites, mostly in the region of Magallanes (XII Region) in the far south of the country.”
Over 70 farms in Chile are currently certified to the ASC Salmon Standard, with almost 300 salmon farms certified across the world.
“ASC will continue to work with Swift, Cermaq, and other retailers and producers to help increase the range of options for Latin Americans looking for responsible seafood,” said Viguie
