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Giant Food bolsters sustainable seafood practices

Ocean Disclosure Project participation brings more sourcing transparency

Russell Redman

October 6, 2020

2 Min Read
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Giant Food has joined the Ocean Disclosure Project (ODP), a global platform that fosters sustainable seafood practices by enabling retailers and other businesses to voluntarily report their sourcing methods.Giant Food of Landover

Giant Food has joined the Ocean Disclosure Project (ODP), a global platform that fosters sustainable seafood practices by enabling retailers and other businesses to voluntarily report their sourcing methods.

Landover, Md.-based Giant said Tuesday that the move takes its sustainable seafood policy a step further: ODP will make the original sources of the supermarket chain’s own-brand, wild-caught seafood available to the public. Under the current policy, all of the retailer’s Giant brand, Nature’s Promise and service case seafood is 100% sustainably sourced, meaning that the seafood was raised via methods that preserve the well-being of the fishery or farm and the integrity of the fish.

According to Giant Food’s ODP profile, the chain uses 41 fisheries, of which 16 are certified and six are part of Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs). Nineteen of the fisheries used by the retailer are assessed as low-risk by a nonprofit science partner.

“We want shoppers to be able to trust that when they purchase any seafood product from Giant, that it is coming from a verified source,” Giant Food President Ira Kress said in a statement. “Participating in the ODP represents our assurance to total transparency and being able to offer products that are in line with our commitment to sustainable sourcing throughout every department of the store.”

Related:Giant Food expands locally made product menu for delivery

ODP participation is open to all businesses that source wild-caught and/or farmed seafood. Other grocery retailers in the United States that participate in ODP include Aldi US, Food Lion, Hannaford, The Giant Company, Giant Eagle, Meijer, Publix, Walmart and Sam’s Club.

Giant said it also serves as a partner of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), which ensures that all seafood that enters its stores is vetted against specific criteria in the grocer’s sustainable seafood policy.

“Knowing where your seafood comes from is a critical element of any effort to buy sustainable seafood,” according to Kyle Foley, sustainable seafood senior program manager at GMRI. “By joining the ODP, Giant Food is pulling back the curtain and being transparent about the original sources of the seafood sold in stores.”

Through its Bags 4 My Cause program, Giant also has donated $15,000 to the Alliance of the Chesapeake Bay, a group that unites communities, companies and conservationists to improve lands and waters. The funds come from shopper Community Bag purchases in the program, which reduces single-use plastic and paper waste and helps support local nonprofit organizations.

Related:Expansion under way at Giant Food's Jessup, Md., warehouse

Part of Ahold Delhaize USA, Giant Food operates 164 supermarkets, 153 in-store pharmacies, 82 PNC Banks and 24 Starbucks locations in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.

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About the Author

Russell Redman

Senior Editor
Supermarket News

Russell Redman has served as senior editor at Supermarket News since April 2018, his second tour with the publication. In his current role, he handles daily news coverage for the SN website and contributes news and features for the print magazine, as well as participates in special projects, podcasts and webinars and attends industry events. Russ joined SN from Racher Press Inc.’s Chain Drug Review and Mass Market Retailers magazines, where he served as desk/online editor for more than nine years, covering the food/drug/mass retail sector. 

Russell Redman’s more than 30 years of experience in journalism span a range of editorial manager, editor, reporter/writer and digital roles at a variety of publications and websites covering a breadth of industries, including retailing, pharmacy/health care, IT, digital home, financial technology, financial services, real estate/commercial property, pro audio/video and film. He started his career in 1989 as a local news reporter and editor, covering community news and politics in Long Island, N.Y. His background also includes an earlier stint at Supermarket News as center store editor and then financial editor in the mid-1990s. Russ holds a B.A. in journalism (minor in political science) from Hofstra University, where he also earned a certificate in digital/social media marketing in November 2016.

Russell Redman’s experience:

Supermarket News - Informa
Senior Editor 
April 2018 - present

Chain Drug Review/Mass Market Retailers - Racher Press
Desk/Online Editor 
Sept. 2008 - March 2018

CRN magazine - CMP Media
Managing Editor
May 2000 - June 2007

Bank Systems & Technology - Miller Freeman
Executive Editor/Managing Editor
Dec. 1996 - May 2000

Supermarket News - Fairchild Publications
Financial Editor/Associate Editor
April 1995 - Dec. 1996 

Shopping Centers Today Magazine - ICSC 
Desk Editor/Assistant Editor
Dec. 1992 - April 1995

Testa Communications
Assistant Editor/Contributing Editor (Music & Sound Retailer, Post, Producer, Sound & Communications and DJ Times magazines)
Jan. 1991 - Dec. 1992 

American Banker/Bond Buyer
Copy Editor
Oct. 1990 - Jan. 1991 

This Week newspaper - Chanry Communications
Reporter/Editor
May 1989 - July 1990

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