Giant Food, a greater Washington, D.C. regional grocery chain, says it has joined the Ocean Disclosure Project (ODP), a global platform where retailers voluntarily share insight into their sourcing methods to ensure sustainable seafood practices. Giant’s sustainable seafood policy has always ensured that every seafood item sold in stores meets sustainability criteria, but the grocer is now taking it a step further. It is enlisting ODP to make the original sources of all its own brand, wild-caught seafood transparent and available to the public.
“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,” said Ira Kress, president of Giant Food. “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.”
Giant Food is also a partner of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI), which ensures that all seafood that enters stores is vetted against the specific criteria in Giant’s sustainable seafood policy. This announcement marks the latest sustainability commitment for Giant, a long-time industry leader in responsible and environmentally conscious operations.
“Knowing where your seafood comes from is a critical element of any effort to buy sustainable seafood. By joining the ODP, Giant Food is pulling back the curtain and being transparent about the original sources of the seafood sold in stores,” stated Kyle Foley, sustainable seafood senior program manager at GMRI.
Through Giant’s Bags 4 My Cause program, which was launched to support local nonprofit organizations while working to reduce single-use paper and plastic waste in the environment, $15,000 was donated through shopper community bag purchases to the Alliance of the Chesapeake Bay, an organization whose mission is to bring together communities, companies and conservationists to improve lands and waters. To learn more about Giant’s Bags 4 My Cause program visit giantfood.bags4mycause.com.
Giant Food is headquartered in Landover, Maryland, and operates 164 supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia with approximately 20,000 associates.
