Helping restaurants use the ASC logo on menus

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) is pleased to launch guidelines for restaurants and caterers who would like to use the ASC logo on their menus. While in Germany, Austria and Switzerland MSC and ASC pilot a new approach to make it easier for independent restaurants to use the labels.

Growing foodservice interest in ASC certified seafood

As the ASC programme matures and responsibly farmed certified seafood becomes increasingly available, the ASC is providing restaurants and caterers globally with the tools to increasingly start using the ASC logo on menus. This will allow them to give customers the reassurance that the seafood on their plates comes from ASC certified farms.

ASC is witnessing increasing interest from hotel chains such as Hilton in Singapore, which is offering ASC and MSC labelled seafood, and Hyatt which has made a global commitment to purchase more than 15 percent of its seafood from MSC certified fisheries or ASC certified farms.

In the Netherlands, Sodexo is already actively promoting ASC certified seafood in its restaurants and canteens as part of the company’s Better Tomorrow Plan.

Visit the ASC logo pages on the website to read the guidelines and find out more.

MSC and ASC pilot in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

To make the ASC programme more accessible for independent restaurants, ASC has partnered with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the certification programme for sustainable fishing and seafood traceability.

From 1 April 2015, ASC and MSC are offering new simplified requirements to independent restaurants who wish to use the labels. German, Austrian and Swiss restaurants who want to offer ASC and / or MSC certified seafood now do not need to hire an independent auditor for a Chain of Custody audit. Instead, the restaurant enters directly into a license agreement with the MSCI. By signing this agreement, the restaurant agrees to follow ASC and MSC traceability guidelines and logo use guidelines.

In return, MSC will coordinate the audit of the restaurant with an independent auditor. Restaurants can apply for both the MSC ecolabel and the ASC logo for the same price (250 US$). If you are interested please contact: restaurant@msc.org

Read the German press release for more information.