Learn about Sustainable Seafood at Sobeys.

1. Sobey’s Strategic
Approach to Sustainable
Seafood Supply
Prepared by: Neha Randhawa

2. External Issues
 Brundtland Commission gave rise to sustainable development movement
 Certain major competitors announced they would sell only ‘certified sustainable’
seafood
 Ongoing pressure in the marketplace to be competitive in the sustainability
agenda through measuring the ‘triple bottom line’ – social, environmental and
financial performance
 Industry veterans suggest the primary incentive for retailers is supply risk
management – to protect the future availability of healthy fish stocks instead of
current retailing profitability
 Mainstream consumers not actively seeking sustainable seafood nor willing to pay
a premium price for it
 Environmental scanning and seeking industry collaboration (partners, suppliers,
peers, NGOs, non-profits) to address sustainability issue
 See Appendix 1 for PEST analysis

3. Internal Issues
 Sobey’s faces a hefty challenge – sustainable retailing cannot interfere with
operating or financial goals and must be consistent with overall corporate
strategy
 How to develop a sustainability strategy when mainstream customers have
latent demand – not actively seeking ‘green label’ seafood nor willing to pay a
premium to retailers for the product offering
 To start, Sobey’s purchasers had no idea where their seafood was sourced
from
 Top management support and sustainability strategy alignment (purpose and
policy)
 Leadership capabilities of Sobey’s management team and its supply chain
(supply chain integration – from fisheries through to the retailer)

4. Overall Issues Sobey’s Faces
 How to be competitive on sustainability front with other retailers (eg.
Overwaitea, Loblaws, Safeway, Metro and Walmart)
 How to protect their financial profits while driving forward the seafood
sustainability policy
 How to educate customers on safe seafood practices and what Sobey’s is
doing to address this – to drive consumer demand for sustainable seafood
 Ensuring seafood supply continuity – transparency, traceability, supplier
relationships – will there be enough supply for the future
 Supplier collaboration to achieve long-term objectives

5. Alternatives Considered
 Reactive supply chain sourcing
 Supplier selection and supply chain sourcing
 Proactive supply chain sourcing
 Supplier development and supply chain management
 Certification process & Customer engagement
 Ecolabels - MSC ecolabels to recognize certified sustainable seafood
 Traceability – barcode or RFID to provide transparency of where seafood is being
sourced from
 Fishery improvement projects – collaboration with fisheries and NGOs to improve
fishery supply chain

6. Evaluation of Alternatives
Reactive supply chain sourcing
Pros
 Maintain operating and financial
short-term goals
 Customers may see this as still
working towards seafood
sustainability through ‘green only’
sourcing
 In line with other major
competitors’ current practices
 Addresses short-term goals
Cons
 May lose close supplier
relationships
 Lose influence on fishery
management practices – ‘red’
supply will move to less discerning
markets – lose opportunity to
change behaviour
 Does not work in the spirit of long-
term goals to drive sustainable
seafood practices (‘greenwashing’)
Supplier selection and supply chain sourcing – work only with farms & suppliers
who provide ‘green’ eco-friendly seafood

7. Evaluation of Alternatives
Proactive supply chain sourcing
Pros
 Displays strategic sustainable
sourcing practices
 Alignment to long-term goals of
organization without affecting
financial or operating goals now
 Supply chain development with
increased supplier cooperation
 Investments into better fish farming
practices to limit risk of future
supply
 Opportunity to deliver greater value
to customers through packaging and
education
Cons
 Some customers might not
understand ‘yellow’ and ‘red’
labels seafood
 May perceive Sobey’s as not on the
forefront of sustainability agenda
 Competitors only selling ‘green’
certified sustainable seafood –
competitive disadvantage
Supplier development and supply chain management – work with suppliers over
time to influence them to ‘green’ fishing practices while still accepting ‘yellow’
and ‘red’ seafood with labels

8. Evaluation of Alternatives
Certification process & Customer engagement
Pros
 Ecolabels are easily identifiable and
many customers aware of its
associated benefits
 Barcode or RFID traceability –
provides customers with knowledge
of safe sourcing practices and drives
customer engagement
 Fishery improvement projects
provide for supply chain integration
and forward looking sustainability
practices to protect future supply
Cons
 Many competitors also using
ecolabels – not a point of
differentiation
 Barcodes or RFID’s require financial
investment and supply chain
integration
 Fishery projects are time
consuming, complex and require
in-house expertise

9. Recommendation
 Go beyond certification to ‘fix the worst first’
 Implement proactive supply chain sourcing practices
 Certification and customer engagement
Rationale:
 Alignment to Sobey’s overall corporate strategy
 Does not interfere with short-term financial or operating goals
 In the spirit of making a difference to the seafood sustainability agenda –
Sobey’s able to influence suppliers to utilize better fish farming practices
over the long-term
 Will reduce risk of future seafood supply
 Continue to provide breadth of seafood products to customers, while
educating them and allowing them to make informed decisions easier

10. Next Steps
 Go beyond certification to ‘fix the worst first’
 Fishing continuum of ‘red’, ‘yellow’ and ‘green’ labels by SeaChoice
 Review current seafood products offering and continue to list ‘red’ zone seafood as long
as supplier has improvement plans in place
 If supplier does not have improvement plans, de-list them
 Implement proactive supply chain sourcing practices
 Work with suppliers to drive better fish farming practices (develop trust, long term
viability with key milestones and measurements) through shared goals
 Coordination with NGOs and non-profits to educate all stakeholders (customers,
suppliers, buyers, retailers) on importance of sustainable seafood practices
 Drive transparency through supply chain
 Leverage local supply where available to minimize carbon footprint
 Train and educate staff on sustainable practices

11. Next Steps… continued
 Certification and customer engagement
 Implement ecolabels, barcodes or RFIDs for traceability, and fishery improvement
projects
 Make it easier for the customer to make informed buying decisions
 Measure progress through sustainability scorecard

12. Appendices

13. Appendix 1 – PEST Analysis
Political
 Brundtland Commission giving
rise to sustainable development
 United Nations, NGOs, and non-
profits placing pressure on
industry to develop sustainability
agendas
Environmental
 Future seafood supply in danger
due to overfishing and illegal
fishing practices
 Major retail competitors
announced sustainability targets to
sell ‘certified sustainable’ only
Social
 Consumers in a state of confusion –
desire to help drive sustainability
but don’t know how
 Latent consumer demand – not
actively seeking ‘certified only’
seafood and not willing to pay
premium
Technological
 Complex seafood supply chain
requiring re-tooling to be
competitive via integration
 Current fishing practices ‘en
masse’ – not sustainable
approach