China’s Largest Retailer Commits to BAP for More Responsible Seafood
As leaders of promoting responsible seafood sourcing policies in the Chinese market, JD.com announced a commitment to Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) during Seafood Expo Global in Brussels on April 25. E-commerce platforms in China, like JD.com, are among the leaders in the marketplace for setting responsible seafood sourcing policies.
In 2017, JD.com and the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) signed an MOU at the Seafood Expo North America in Boston to begin cooperation by offering BAP products to JD’s online customers via its fresh food platform, JD Fresh.
As a way of firmly establishing themselves as a globally recognized platform concerned about minimizing the impacts of its aquaculture sourcing policies, JD.com has now agreed to further its commitment by announcing that 50 percent of the farmed supply by volume on JD Fresh will be at least two-star BAP certified by 2020. The company has also committed to more than 80 percent of its private label farmed seafood offerings to be at least two-star BAP certified by 2020.
“It has been my honor to work closely with the team at JD.com for the past year-and-a-half and help them build out a responsible sourcing policy for their farmed seafood products. In that time, we have really worked back-and-forth to gain a better understanding of each other, so we can best address the unique needs of the e-commerce platform JD has constructed,” said GAA VP Steven Hart. “For anyone who has a good understanding of the Chinese seafood market, they will know what an aggressive sourcing policy JD has committed to. But after getting to know them the way I have, I am confident they will meet, and likely surpass, their 2020 goal.”
JD Fresh offers fresh, frozen and live seafood products from around the world to Chinese consumers. Its commitment to a responsible sourcing policy shows that JD Fresh follows a longer-term plan to continue to provide the same high-quality seafood products to future generations.
“JD.com knows our customers trust us to provide them with the highest quality products. They expect to have a good experience every time they make the decision to purchase from us online,” said Jary Hu, seafood general manager of JD Fresh. “It is crucial that every farm, processing plant and feed mill in our farmed seafood supply chain is a responsible operator. That is why we like the assurances that a program like BAP offers. We would like to deepen our work with GAA to make more responsibly produced seafood available on our platform. The blue BAP logo will be an indicator to consumers of the work we are doing.”
About BAP
A division of the Global Aquaculture Alliance, Best Aquaculture Practices is an international certification program based on achievable, science-based and continuously improved performance standards for the entire aquaculture supply chain — farms, hatcheries, processing plants and feed mills — that assure healthful foods produced through environmentally and socially responsible means. BAP certification is based on independent audits that evaluate compliance with the BAP standards developed by the Global Aquaculture Alliance.
