Sure, Hong Kong has a ways to go when it comes to sustainability and environmental consciousness, but we’re here to remind you that things are only getting better.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) annually collects updated information from large supermarket groups regarding their sustainable seafood procurement policies. Responding supermarket groups are rated on specific performance areas on a scale of 1 to 10. Average scores across all performance areas are generated for each supermarket group to give an overall ranking.
Supermarkets are rated using the “sustainable seafood procurement policy scorecard”, which measures six key performance areas: avoid selling threatened species, setting sustainable seafood target and promotion, no harmful chemicals (including antibiotics), proper labels with detailed information, eliminate alleged human rights abuse and public announcements. Pretty neat way to make sure Hong Kong’s superstores are doing their bit to help our oceans, huh?
And it’s no small feat. Hong Kong is the second-largest-per-capita consumer of seafood in Asia and the eighth largest in the world! It’s no wonder when you think of all the fish-ball stands, seafood restaurants amd fresh and frozen seafood-based dim sum here, and the list goes on. We agree that our biggest suppliers have a responsibility to supply us… well, responsibly.
So it’s good to know that AEON, YATA and 759 Stores across Hong Kong are all in the lead within the 7 score bracket. Supermarkets have reached the “good” grading band for the first time since the study began in 2017.
The seafood choices made in Hong Kong have a significant impact on fish resources in the nearby South China Sea and in oceans around the globe. To do our bit as customers, we recommend taking a quick peek at all seafood labels to check that it has been safely and sustainably sourced. Now we can of-fish-ially be sure of what we’re putting into our tums!
The 2019 scorecard for Hong Kong supermarkets
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