Fish counter at a Waitrose supermarket.
Photo: Waitrose / Paul Grover
UK supermarket retailer Waitrose has announced it will roll out the Seafood Carbon Emissions Profiling Tool (SCEPT) across its seafood supply chain in a bid to better measure and reduce the carbon footprint of its products.
The UK retailer, which is part of the John Lewis Group, recently jointly hosted a webinar with Seafish, the UK public body that supports the seafood industry, where Waitrose introduced the tool to its seafood suppliers and outlined how it can be used to gather emissions data and identify areas for improvement.
SCEPT, developed by Seafish with input from industry stakeholders and launched in May 2024, is an online platform that allows seafood businesses to calculate carbon footprints for both wild-capture and aquaculture products. Users input supply chain data such as fuel use, processing, packaging and transport, and the software then analyses this to pinpoint where emissions are highest, benchmark performance, and track progress towards reduction goals.
“At Waitrose, we’re committed to sourcing seafood responsibly and reducing the environmental impact of our supply chains," said Ben Lambden, Partner & Manager, Fisheries and Aquaculture at Waitrose, via a press release. "By adopting the SCEPT we will work with our seafood supply chain to receive the data we need to identify carbon hotspots and work with those suppliers to make meaningful reductions.”
Lambden added that the retailer was “encouraged with the response and support” from its seafood suppliers following the webinar.
The initiative forms part of the John Lewis Partnership’s wider climate strategy, with the group's aim to reach net-zero emissions across its operations by 2035 and across its full supply chain by 2050. Waitrose said implementing the SCEPT will be an important step towards achieving those goals.
Joint SCEPT webinar by Waitrose and Seafish.
As WeAreAquaculture reported in January this year, the tool has already been adopted by UK supermarket chain Tesco. According to Seafish, 125 seafood businesses have already signed up to use the tool, representing around two-thirds of the UK seafood processing sector by chilled and frozen volume.
“It’s great to see Waitrose adopting the SCEPT. Waitrose’s commitment will further strengthen the UK seafood sector’s support to integrate the tool and we’re also currently working with other leading UK retailers to advise how they too can implement the tool,” said Dr Stuart McLanaghan, Head of Responsible Sourcing at Seafish and lead developer of the SCEPT.
“We remain committed to keeping the tool at the cutting edge of science, evolving with industry needs and aspirations," McLanaghan added.