Thai Union Ranked No. 1 on Seafood Stewardship Index for 3rd time for leadership in driving positive change, delivering towards UN SDGs
BANGKOK – October 17, 2023 – Thai Union Group PCL has been ranked number one on the Seafood Stewardship Index (SSI) for the third consecutive time in recognition of its leadership in driving positive change and delivering towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
The World Benchmarking Alliance, which evaluates the SSI, assessed 30 of the largest and most influential companies in the seafood industry across the areas of governance and strategy, ecosystems, traceability, and social responsibility.
The WBA said that Thai Union was measured as being first in the area of social responsibility for “distinguishing itself from its peers by its efforts to ensure decent working and living conditions on board fishing vessels, whilst monitoring for compliance and providing evidence of improvements.”
“At Thai Union, we want to be the most trusted seafood leader in the world,” said Thiraphong Chansiri, CEO at Thai Union Group. “We recognize that to achieve our vision we must deliver impactful change across not only our own operations but across our global sourcing footprint. We’re proud of what we have achieved in driving positive change while acknowledging that there are many challenges ahead. Thai Union remains deeply committed to the ongoing pursuit of programs and initiatives that deliver positive outcomes for both people and planet.”
The assessment also ranked Thai Union among the leaders in traceability – partly due to the Company’s consistent and thorough disclosure on the Ocean Disclosure Project, a global platform where seafood businesses publicly share details on the sourcing of their seafood, along with governance and strategy for disclosing its process for identifying and prioritising the Company’s most relevant sustainability impacts as well as the outcome of this process, in relation to its sustainability strategy. Thai Union also performed well in disclosing how it engages with stakeholders and the outcomes of that engagement.
Thai Union has now been ranked first on the SSI, which is reviewed every second year, for the third time after being on top of the inaugural index in 2019 and again in 2021. The recognition from the World Benchmarking Alliance follows the recent launch of SeaChange® 2030, the next stage of Thai Union’s sustainability strategy that will help reshape the seafood industry.
“The Seafood Stewardship Index ranking is an intiative Thai Union has implemented to have a positive impact on our business and the global seafood sector,” said Adam Brennan, Chief Sustainability Officer at Thai Union Group. “With a score of 47.5 out of 100, it is clear that Thai Union and the rest of the industry still has immense challenges ahead of us. We are ambitious at Thai Union and through SeaChange® 2030, the next stage of our sustainability strategy, we are increasing and broadening our efforts through 11 interconnected goals that will drive global impact while supporting the delivery of 10 of the UN SDGs that are material to us. This includes new goals in the areas assessed by the SSI including ecosystems and traceability, presenting opportunities to make further advances.”
The SSI measures how the world’s leading seafood companies contribute to the sustainable management of the oceans and coastal ecosystems and ensure responsible social practices are implemented. With these companies playing a significant role in feeding billions of people and also supporting livelihoods around the world, the SSI says the 30 companies assessed have significant influence on the world’s fishing business and can therefore accelerate positive change.
In its assessment, SSI said Thai Union still has room for improvement including in the area of the environment by demonstrating how it mitigates ecosystem impacts across 100 percent of its operations.
Thai Union’s SeaChange® 2030 goals include a 42 percent reduction to Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050; contributing THB 250 million (more than USD 7 million) toward the protection and restoration of critical ecosystems; the implementation of zero water discharge, zero waste to landfill and zero food loss at its five key global facilities; ensuring 100 percent of Thai Union’s shrimp is produced minimizing ecosystem impact, extending our responsible wild-caught sourcing program to all key species and providing and safe, equitable, and decent workplace.
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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 46 years.
Today, Thai Union is regarded as one of the world's leading seafood producers and is one of the largest producers of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 155.6 billion (US$ 4.4 billion) and a global workforce of more than 44,000 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, Hawesta, and Rügen Fisch, Thai-leading brands SEALECT, Fisho, Qfresh, Monori, OMG Meat, Bellotta and Marvo, and ingredient and supplement brands UniQ®BONE, UniQ®DHA and ZEAvita.
With a commitment to “Healthy Living, Healthy Oceans,” Thai Union is proud to be a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a founding participating company of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), and current Chair of Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS).
Thai Union's ongoing leadership in sustainability has been taken to the next level with the announcement of SeaChange® 2030, the Company’s expanded sustainability strategy with more ambitious goals for people and planet. Through SeaChange®, the Company was recognized and listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for the ninth consecutive year in 2022, and ranked number one on the Food Products Industry Index of the DJSI, a position it previously held in 2018 and 2019. The Company was ranked number one on the Seafood Stewardship Index (SSI) in 2023, listed in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2023 after being ranked in the top 1% of more than 7,800 companies assessed, and also named to the FTSE4Good Emerging Index for the seventh straight year in 2022. Find out more about the Group’s sustainability strategy at seachangesustainability.org.
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