Thai Union Group PCL has been ranked No. 1 food industry worldwide on Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). The seafood company, which has been listed on this index for nine consecutive years, considers that regaining the top spot it already held in 2018 and 2019 further validates the progress made under its global sustainability strategy, SeaChange®. "Sustainability sits at the heart of Thai Union's business", said Thirapong Chansiri, President and CEO.
This leadership in the DJSI comes after, for the second time in a row, Thai Union was last year ranked number one on the Seafood Stewardship Index (SSI) for its performance delivering towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). "At Thai Union, we're proud to be a leader and set the standard for others in the seafood industry to follow", said Adam Brennan, Sustainability Group Director at Thai Union.
"We are committed to continuing to demonstrate that leadership and we're excited that in early 2023 we will announce the next iteration of SeaChange®, with a series of ambitious targets through to 2030 including climate change goals in line with the Science Based Targets Initiative", he added.
Thirapong Chansiri, Thai Union's President and CEO, expressed a similar view. "We are ambitious about driving positive change not just in our own operations but across the entire global seafood industry", he said. "Through our commitment to 'Healthy Living, Healthy Oceans', Thai Union is implementing industry-leading initiatives that are not just addressing some of the biggest challenges facing the industry, but delivering impactful change".
Precisely in line with Thai Union's commitment to 'Healthy Living, Healthy Oceans', the company established in 2019 its Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) Fund that invests in, and partners with, early-stage, entrepreneurial companies working in areas such as alternative proteins, functional nutrition, and biotechnology, in addition to new technologies along the food value chain. Its latest investment move was announced last week with the addition of Jellagen, a jellyfish collagen start-up, to its biotechnology portfolio.
Founded in 2015, Jellagen, which is based in Cardiff, UK, is a leading advanced collagen biomaterials company. Its early clinical findings demonstrate that type 0 collagen, derived from jellyfish, is superior to its mammalian counterparts, especially in the medical and healing areas. Its ultimate goal is "to revolutionize regenerative medicine through a range of medical devices and culture applications". Thai Union said this investment opens the door for further collaboration in areas of sourcing, processing, as well as applications within the company's new and existing products.
"As a seafood industry leader, we strive to leverage innovation in our business and products. Jellagen is at the forefront of jellyfish collagen research and is developing a marine collagen platform which will have applications across medical, cosmetics and the food and nutrition space", said Thirapong Chansiri. "We're looking forward to exploring collaboration opportunities together in our global research and development and processing facilities around the world".
Thai Union Group PCL have been bringing seafood products to customers across the world for 45 years. The company is regarded as one of the world's leading seafood producers and is one of the largest producers of shelf-stable tuna products with annual sales exceeding THB 141.0 billion (US$ 4.5 billion). Its global workforce of more than 44,000 people is dedicated to pioneering sustainable and innovative seafood products. As a company committed to 'Healthy Living, Healthy Oceans', Thai Union is a member of the United Nations Global Compact, a founding participating company of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF), and current Chair of Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship (SeaBOS).
