ASC makes waves at Seafood Expo Global in Brussels

Last week, the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) exhibited at the Seafood Expo Global in Brussels. The annual event is the world’s largest seafood trade show with more than 26,600 companies from 144 countries participating in previous years.

Over the last eight years, the ASC has become a staple of the annual event. However, this year’s expo marked the first time that the ASC and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) shared a joint booth. Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two organisations last year, the two organisations have continued working towards furthering their collaboration. ASC is committed to finding additional efficiencies and added value for partners handling both ASC and MSC certified products, and the joint  stand is a testament to that ambition.

Other highlights included the launch of ASC’s highly anticipated Marketing Toolkit and Style Guide through a joint celebration with salmon producer Marine Harvest, the celebration of the Honduras shrimp farm Granjas Marinas San Bernado’s certification, and the inaugural joint ASC and MSC Seafood Futures Forum event.

Focus on increasing consumer demand and trust

The forum drew a large crowd of close to 300 partners and supporters who gathered to hear about market trends and how to build consumer demand for responsibly produced seafood.

ASC’s Senior Commercial Marketing Manager Esther Luiten provided an update and presented key trends in the market. IKEA’s Head of Health and Sustainability Jacqui Macalister explained how IKEA engages consumers with food sustainability. And, Ed Gillespie, co­-founder of leading marketing bureau Futerra, provided insights on how organisations can grow consumer demand and trust through responsible seafood sourcing.

The discussion included an esteemed panel including Hilton Worldwide, Carrefour and IKEA Food, all market leaders in responsible seafood. They were joined on stage by ASC’s CEO Chris Ninnes, and Rupert Howes, CEO of MSC. The discussion was focused on the role of consumer demand in driving the three companies’ commitment to certified seafood, and it drew a lively discussion from the crowd. The photos of the forum can be found here.

Marine Harvest First to Feature New ASC Marketing Toolkit

To celebrate the official launch of the ASC Marketing Toolkit and Style Guide, an event was held with leading salmon producer Marine Harvest Group on the first day of the show. At the press event, ASC and Marine Harvest unveiled an exclusive stand design created with elements from the toolkit. The stand is a further statement of Marine Harvest’s commitment to ASC and providedan excellent example to others of the ways in which the new toolkit can support partner communications.

The ASC Marketing Toolkit and Style Guide is now available to all ASC partners, and will help marketing departments create materials to efficiently communicate about ASC certified products. The toolkit provides useful assets including artwork, icons, approved copy, examples of posters and pamphlet designs to be used in-store. Photos of the launch can be seen here.

Honduras shrimp farms celebrate ASC certification

During the expo a celebration was held to mark the recent ASC certification of the Honduras shrimp farm Finca Granjas Marinas San Bernado. The official certificate was handed over to Victor Wilson Canessa, CEO Grupo Ganjas Marinas by independent certifier Control Union Peru.

The Granjas Marinas Group operated site located in Choluteca, Honduras was successfully assessed against the ASC standard for responsible shrimp farming by Control Union earlier in the year together with four of the companies’ other farms. Photos of the certification are available here.