Albertsons Companies announced this week that 100% of the seafood in its Waterfront Bistro and Open Nature private brands will soon display the Responsible Choice logo for sustainable sourcing.

The Responsible Choice logo signifies that the product meets Albertsons comprehensive Responsible Seafood Policy, which requires seafood be caught or farmed in ways that safeguard future supplies and help keep ecosystems thriving. The logo also signifies that sourcing is third-party audited to ensure the highest standards.

The Responsible Choice Logo will be on over 100 unique items in the popular Waterfront Bistro and Open Nature private brands. These seafood items are carried throughout Albertsons Cos.’ over 2,200 Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Tom Thumb, Shaw’s, Star Market, ACME Markets, Randalls, Haggen and other banner stores.

Specifically, the Responsible Seafood Policy mandates products to be:

• Green or Yellow rated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program; or
• Certified to an equivalent environmental standard; or
• Sourced from fisheries or farms making measurable and time-bound improvements.

Chad Coester, Senior Vice President, Own Brands, Albertsons

“For many of our customers, sustainability is just as important as quality, convenience and price,” said Chad Coester, Senior Vice President, Own Brands. “We’re committed to delivering the best of all of the above, and I’m proud of our Own Brands and Seafood Sourcing teams for pushing to meet this target 2½ years ahead of our Responsible Seafood Policy.”

The respected non-profit sustainable seafood consultancy, FishWise, is the company’s longtime partner in these extensive efforts to offer sustainably sourced seafood.

“We want to congratulate Albertsons Companies on achieving this major milestone towards their 2022 commitment,” said Tobias Aguirre, CEO FishWise. “This is a huge accomplishment, especially for a company of this size, and is the result of hard work and unwavering dedication to their Responsible Seafood Program goals.”

The announcement is just one of many important steps the company has taken to protect the marine environment. In 2019, Albertsons Cos. completed the phase-out of freshwater eel (unagi) from sushi products. The phase-out was part of their sushi commitment to ensure that the most popular wild and farmed-raised seafood used in prepared sushi are sourced using sustainable options. Eel (unagi) was removed from the sushi offerings 3½ years ahead of its 2022 deadline. Wild eel populations are in dangerous decline and the process of raising farmed eel is unsustainable for both the species and the oceans.