AEON aims to increase sales of ASC certified seafood in Japan

AEON, Japan’s largest retailer, has announced its plans to increase the volume of Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certified seafood available across its stores.

 At a press event in Tokyo, Ms Tsuchiya, Director, Senior Executive Officer, General Food Merchandising Planning Division at Aeon Retail, declared that AEON intends to increase share of MSC and ASC certified seafood sales by ten percent, from the current three percent, by 2020.

AEON also revealed plans to expand the sale of its own brand, Topvalu Gurinai, ASC labelled Atlantic salmon.

Referring to the forthcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Ms Tsuchiya confirmed that the fact that ASC certified farmed seafood will be served at the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games is a clear sign that recognition of certified seafood is increasing worldwide.

The Rio 2016 Organising Committee has pledged that by the time of the Rio 2016 Olympics all of the seafood coming from aquaculture that enters the Olympic village will be ASC certified.

AEON predicts that ASC in particular will expand on a wide scale globally in the coming years, and  it sees the Tokyo 2020 Games as an opportunity to introduce more ASC certified seafood in Japan.

First retailer in Japan to offer responsibly farmed seafood

In 2014, AEON became the first retailer to introduce ASC certified salmon to the Japanese market. About 1,200 AEON Group stores currently sell ASC certified Atlantic salmon across the country.

In the same year, AEON also brought ASC certified pangasius to Japan, helping to increasing the presence of ASC certified seafood in this important market.