Thai Union Unveils Short Film on Digital Traceability Collaboration in Thailand

Caption: A fisherman is pictured on a dock in southern Thailand, where Thai Union and Mars Petcare are implementing a digital traceability pilot program. Photo credit: Thai Union

7 NOVEMBER 2017, BANGKOK - Thai Union Group PCL announced the release of a short video documenting an innovative digital traceability pilot program recently implemented in Thailand, created in collaboration with Mars Petcare and a coalition of industry and government groups. The pilot project has the potential to improve traceability and transparency throughout Thai waters, as well as the greater fishing industry since many issues in Thailand replicate themselves in other fishing communities around the world.

Traceability—the ability to track a product in granular detail from its place of origin all the way to the consumer—is a key component that benefits producers and consumers by bringing transparency to the entire system. But the challenges surrounding traceability are particularly acute for the seafood industry.

“Thai Union and Mars Petcare designed this digital traceability pilot program to help address those challenges,” said Darian McBain, Thai Union’s global director for sustainable development. “Digital traceability in supply chains is a big step toward ensuring sustainability.”

The film shines a light on the state-of-the-art Inmarsat Fleet One terminals being successfully installed on fishing vessels in Thailand as part of the pilot project to promote digital traceability, which helps ensure more ethical and transparent seafood supply chains. It also explores how crew members, captains and fleet owners are now empowered to use mobile phone chat applications to connect with families and peers around the world while at sea—an industry first for Thai fisheries.

“This pilot is a major step in the right direction for increased transparency and traceability in the seafood industry,” said McBain. “Furthermore, it illustrates how companies like Thai Union and Mars are at the forefront of the effort to drive positive change, while consumers increasingly demand to know where their fish are caught, if the fishery is sustainable and how the people who catch their food are being treated.”

The video is now accessible on Thai Union’s official YouTube channel at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dow-brkJibY&feature=youtu.be.

Thai Union and Mars Petcare will release two subsequent videos regarding this pilot project focusing on worker voice and e-logbooks, respectively, later this year.

The digital traceability pilot program is in line with Thai Union’s sustainable development strategy, SeaChange®, which considers traceability as the backbone of sustainability. To learn more about SeaChange®, please visit: http://seachangesustainability.org/.

 

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ABOUT THAI UNION

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 almost 40 years.

Today, Thai Union is regarded as the world’s largest producer of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 125 billion (US$ 3.7 billion) and a global workforce of over 46,000 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, 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. Thai Union’s on-going work on sustainability issues was recognized by its inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability

Index Emerging Markets (DJSI) in 2014. In 2017, Thai Union was named to the DJSI for the fourth consecutive year. Thai Union has also been included in the FTSE4Good Emerging Index.

MEDIA CONTACTS
Christopher Hughes
M: +66.625.94 1.089
E: Christopher.Hughes@ThaiUnion.com