ALDI UK promoting Marine Stewardship Council-certified products through September

ALDI U.K. is partnering with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to promote several MSC-certified seafood products in its stores.

The rapidly expanding grocery chain, which will add 500 locations in the next few years, sells the largest volume of MSC-certified products compared to any other U.K. supermarket, the company said press release.

The promotion is part of the company’s celebration of Sustainable Seafood September, according to ALDI U.K. Corporate Responsibility Director Liz Fox.

"We know that our customers want to make more environmentally friendly choices while doing their weekly shop, which is why we are always looking for new and innovative ways to make our business greener,” Fox told SeafoodSource. ”Our range of seafood products displaying the blue Marine Stewardship Council eco-label are part of that and make it easy for shoppers to spot that what they're buying has been certified against the highest sustainability standards.”

MSC’s blue tick label is found on more than 1,500 seafood products throughout the U.K., ALDI said.

“Dozens” of ALDI U.K. products feature the ecolabel, including canned, chilled, and frozen products,” Fox said. “People are often surprised by how delicious canned fish can be, and at ALDI you can find a wide variety of products including canned salmon and tuna with the blue MSC eco-label."

Frozen fish is one of the most sustainable seafood product types, Fox said, while acknowledging the frozen versus fresh debate is “still a hot topic among seafood lovers.”

“The rumor that fish loses its taste, freshness, and nutrients when frozen isn’t true at all,” she said. Instead, buying frozen fish “dramatically cuts household food waste and is a great way to bulk buy and maximize your mealtime ingredients,” Fox said.

 Among the frozen MSC-certified products ALDI U.K. carries is its Fishmonger brand of wild salmon fillets.

While the most popular seafood species in the U.K. are cod, haddock, tuna, salmon, and prawns, Fox said many other lesser-known alternatives may be less expensive, just as sustainable, and equally as tasty.

“Pollock is a good example of a great whitefish alternative, which is in the same family as cod. It can be found in ALDI stores, with products including The Fishmonger Fish Fillet Burgers and The Fishmonger Breaded Fish Fillets,” Fox said.

Some shellfish, such as Scottish mussels, are also an affordable, sustainable alternative for U.K. shoppers. With a lower carbon footprint compared to other protein sources, and as filter feeders, mussels can create a cleaner, healthier environment for other aquatic species, mussels are a “brilliant sustainable choice,” Fox said.

ALDI is now Britain’s fourth-biggest grocer, and 1 in every 10 pounds spent at British supermarkets goes through its tills, the company said. It was the fastest-growing retailer for the fourth month in a row in July, with sales increasing by 21.2 percent in the month compared to the same period a year prior, data consulting company Kantar reported.

Additionally, the consumer group Which? named ALDI the “cheapest supermarket” for the 15th month in a row.

Photo courtesy of ALDI