Dutch grocer Jumbo’s basic principle is that products must be produced with care for people, animals and the environment. To guarantee this, Jumbo is striving for more and more products with a quality mark in its range. In this way, customers can make a conscious choice for fish that comes from sustainable fisheries (MSC) or from a responsible farm (ASC). Jumbo thus made an important contribution to the conservation of fish stocks and the protection of seas and coasts.

The 2019 “State of the Shelf” survey by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) found that the conservatives lagged behind in the use of certified catch (48%) versus fresh (82%) and frozen (94%). “Since then, the shelf has been in full swing,” explains Hidde van Kersen, Program Director Benelux at MSC. “We see a continuous increase in the use of the MSC quality mark, with this step by Jumbo having a significant impact. After all, it is complicated to set up a fully certified range of preserves; this is especially true for tuna and sardines. We are therefore very happy that Jumbo succeeded. This gives consumers more options to support sustainable fisheries with a conscious choice of product. ”

With this introduction, Jumbo once again shows that customers can turn to the supermarket company for a wide range of more sustainable products. Recently, Jumbo was the first supermarket chain with its own shrimp prawn crackers from Dutch waters to bear the MSC quality mark. “We see that customers are increasingly making a conscious choice,” says Olaf de Boer, Commercial Director at Jumbo. “With this product introduction, we help our customers to make a sustainable and affordable choice. At Jumbo, we now almost exclusively sell sustainably caught or responsibly farmed fish or fish that are green on the VISwijzer. 96% of our house brand fresh fish, frozen fish and smoked fish has the ASC or MSC quality mark. We are proud of that, as is the fact that we now have our own line of canned fish with the MSC quality mark.”

The new line of canned fish consists of eight different products: four tuna varieties (water, sunflower oil, olive oil, with vegetables in tomato sauce), anchovies, pink salmon, herring in tomato sauce and sardines. The tuna and sardines are on the shelves from week 31; the salmon, anchovies and herring in tomato sauce follow a few weeks later.