US Foodservice has announced a partnership with the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), making the company the first broadline food distributor in the United States to offer its customers farm-raised seafood certified as sustainable under the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification logo.
Initial offerings will include catfish, shrimp, and tilapia. This is the second sustainable seafood certification offered by US Foodservice. In April 2008, the company became the first food distributor to provide sustainable wild-caught seafood certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). MSC uses eco-logo labels to indicate certification of seafood products from fisheries that are sustainable and environmentally responsible through a third-party audit system.
Through development of its BAP certification program, GAA has become a leading standards-setting organization for aquaculture seafood. The BAP certification ensures social and environmental responsibility, traceability, and compliance with food safety best practices throughout the production chain of farm-raised fish and seafood in nations worldwide.
US Foodservice will begin to certify its source of Harbor Banks private label catfish to BAP standards immediately, followed by shrimp in the coming months and tilapia thereafter.
