Thai Union’s Dr. Darian McBain Receives Seafood Champion Award at Seaweb Seafood Summit

Caption: Dr. Darian McBain, Thai Union Group’s Global Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, was recognized for her visionary approach to sustainability with the Seafood Champion Award at the SeaWeb Seafood Summit in Bangkok.

12 June 2019, Bangkok – Thai Union Group PCL Global Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Dr. Darian McBain has been recognized for her visionary approach to improving seafood sustainability and inspiring positive change across the industry, at the SeaWeb Seafood Summit.

McBain was honored in the Vision category of the Seafood Champion Awards, which recognize individuals or organizations that have shown outstanding leadership in promoting environmentally responsible seafood, leading to industry innovation and change. Awards were also presented in the categories of Leadership, Innovation and Advocacy.

“I’m incredibly honored to receive this award, which is a recognition of all the hard work being done at Thai Union to bring positive change to the global seafood industry,” said McBain. “We know there remains a lot of work ahead but we will continue to collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders to find solutions to the challenges facing the industry.”

The awards were presented at the SeaWeb Seafood Summit, where representatives from the seafood industry from around the world have gathered for a week of sharing knowledge, exchanging ideas and seeking collaborative solutions to reach a shared goal: creating a more sustainable future for seafood.

During a panel discussion on combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, McBain said there had been a lot of positive change in the industry but urged businesses, governments and civil society to work together so they can achieve greater transparency and sustainable seafood. She said it was difficult to understand the environmental and human rights impacts in seafood supply chains without transparency, which is key to transforming the industry.

Thai Union Group CFO Joerg Ayrle told the summit that from a business perspective, making sustainability core to its operations was critical to managing a successful company. He added that businesses with a significant focus on sustainability have created the most market value over the past decade.

But Ayrle said the issues of transparency and sustainability do not necessarily have to deliver a financial return for the business, as there are other equally important returns – contributing to society, engaging employees and preserving human rights.

During the SeaWeb Seafood Summit, attendees visited Thai Union’s new Global Innovation Center, where around 160 scientists and researchers in the fields or marine biotechnology, engineering, medicine, food science and nutrition combine modern nutritional science and production innovations to develop products that address the needs of consumers and the global food industry.

Participants in the summit will on Friday visit the Thai Union Feedmill in Samut Sakhon. Since 2000, the feedmill has been producing and exporting shrimp feed, freshwater fish feed, marine fish feed and extruded feed. The feedmill recently played an important role in a partnership between Thai Union and leading alternative protein producer Calysta to farm shrimp with Calysta’s innovative and sustainable FeedKind® protein, which contains a unique carbon signature that can help the food industry provide traceability and integrity to its supply chain. Feedkind® also enables shrimp farmers to meet growing global demand without putting extra pressure on the planet’s resources, replacing fishmeal from wild fish specifically caught for protein in shrimp feed.

About Thai Union Group

Thai Union Group PCL is the world’s seafood leader bringing high quality, healthy, tasty and innovative seafood products to customers across the world for more than 40 years.

Today, Thai Union is regarded as the world’s largest producer of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 133.3 billion (US$ 4.1 billion) and a global workforce of over 47,000 people who are dedicated to pioneering sustainable, innovative seafood products.

The company’s global brand portfolio includes market-leading international brands such as Chicken of the Sea, John West, Petit Navire, Parmentier, Mareblu, King Oscar, and Rügen Fisch and Thai-leading brands SEALECT, Fisho, Qfresh, Monori, Bellotta and Marvo.

As a company committed to innovation and globally responsible behavior, Thai Union is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, and a founding member of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF). In 2015, Thai Union introduced its SeaChange® sustainability strategy. Find out more at seachangesustainability.org.

Thai Union’s on-going work on sustainability issues was recognized in 2018 by being ranked number one in the world in the Food Products Industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, achieving a 100th percentile ranking for total sustainability score. Thai Union has now been named to the DJSI for five consecutive years. Thai Union was also named to the FTSE4Good Emerging Index for the third straight year in 2018.

Media contacts
Leigh Murray
Strategic Communications
+66-92-535-4849
leigh.murray@thaiunion.com