Yiguo.com, GAA Sign MOU to Make BAP-Certified Seafood Available to Chinese Consumers
Yiguo.com and the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at a ceremony in Shanghai on Sept. 15, 2017, at which Yiguo.com announced it would begin working with GAA’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program.
Yiguo.com, a leading China-based grocery food e-commerce platform, committed to including BAP in its seafood sourcing policy and preferentially sourcing seafood products that originate from BAP-certified facilities. That also means BAP-certified products and their providers can expedite the process to do business with Yiguo, and Yiguo’s customers will be able to purchase BAP-certified seafood from home and abroad.
Yiguo.com and GAA will cooperate in several areas, including Yiguo preferentially purchasing BAP products, increasing the quantity of BAP products on Yiguo.com over time, and marketing BAP seafood to Yiguo’s users. Yiguo.com and GAA will work together to educate both their seafood suppliers and consumers on responsible and sustainable aquaculture through the BAP program and the appropriate use of its blue BAP logo. GAA encourages international BAP-certified facilities/businesses to use Yiguo.com as an effective way to enter the Chinese market.
Yiyi Yang, vice president of Yiguo.com, and Steve Hart, vice president of GAA, signed the MOU. Among those who presented at the ceremony were He Cui, president of CAPPMA (China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance); Dekun Li, CTO of Intertek China; and Chunyan Li, e-commerce director of Guolian Aquatic Products Co.
“As a leader in fresh food e-commerce, we focus on maintaining high standards for the products we purchase. The BAP certification program satisfies our outlook for aquaculture products, for environment and for social responsibility. This MoU signifies the beginning of a partnership. We are looking forward to achieving a win-win with GAA in the future and we will together move forward for our common goal: to provide healthy, safe, sustainable and responsible seafood to Chinese consumers,” said Yang.
Because GAA recognizes the importance of the Chinese market and has made a long-term commitment to establishing BAP there, Hart flew from the United States to sign this MOU with Yiguo.
“Yiguo.com is one of the largest fresh food e-commerce platforms. It is a leader in the fresh food e-commerce revolution that has started in China,” said Hart. “Since 2002, our BAP certification has been working toward improving aquaculture production and supply chains. Through our four pillars of protecting the environment, society, animal welfare and food safety, BAP has become a leading internationally recognized standard. I believe that through this cooperation, BAP aquaculture products will withstand tests from the market and consumers and will be popular items on Yiguo.com.”
Added Dr. He Cui, president of CAPPMA, “The cooperation between Yiguo.com and GAA promotes the concept of sustainability in China and will provide our consumers with more safe, high quality and responsible aquaculture products from all over the world.”
About Yiguo
Established in Shanghai in 2005, Yiguo became the first e-commerce platform that focused on groceries and fresh goods, thus making 2005 the inaugural year for groceries purchased on e-commerce. As one of the first sizable online grocery platforms, Yiguo strives to provide Chinese urban families with quality food choices and ingredients from around the world. Yiguo was founded with the vision to “treat the customers like family” and the concept of “simplicity, tastiness, and assurance” in food. Armed with such vision and mission, the Yiguo family provides a “one-stop” shopping experience for their customers.
About GAA
Founded in 1997, the Global Aquaculture Alliance is an international non-governmental organization dedicated to advocacy, education and leadership in responsible aquaculture. We uphold and engage stakeholders worldwide who are dedicated to advancing environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture practices. Through the development of our Best Aquaculture Practices certification standards, GAA has become the leading standards-setting organization for aquaculture seafood. BAP is the world’s most trusted, comprehensive and proven third-party aquaculture certification program. We’ve been improving the environmental, social and economic performance of the aquaculture supply chain and growing the global supply of responsibly farmed seafood since 2002.
