Chinese retailer Qdama has committed to sourcing seafood from Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certified producers to help provide assurances to consumers as well as to strengthen its commitment to responsible seafood. This commitment is part of a memorandum of understanding signed with the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA) last July in Guangzhou, China. Qdama provided Chinese consumers with 20,000 tons of seafood products in 2021.
"Food safety is the most important thing for food. It's the basic bottom line. Fresh food companies must attach great importance to, and it is also the lifeline for the sustainable and healthy development of enterprises", said the general manager of Qdama, Weihua Feng. Moreover, she also emphasized Qdama's commitment to the environment and sourcing healthy, high-quality ingredients. Just this week, the Global Seafood Alliance, promoter of the BAP certification, released the results of a survey according to which price, hygiene, and food safety are priorities for the Chinese when buying seafood.
For his part, GSA's vice president of market development, Steve Hart, noted that "Qdama recognizes that it needs to provide assurances to its customers that the seafood products it purchases are produced in a safe and responsible manner". And added, "The BAP program offers those assurances".
Seeking to strengthen that commitment to responsible seafood, the Chinese retailer not only plans to prioritize the purchase of seafood products from BAP-certified producers but will encourage non-certified seafood suppliers to achieve the BAP label. According to Qdama, bringing even more high-quality seafood products to consumers will help elevate China's aquaculture industry and ensure that the seafood market grows and develops responsibly, keeping fish in the country's future.
"The GSA community looks forward to collaborating with Qdama and Qdama's seafood suppliers to popularize responsible sourcing in seafood supply chains and continue to grow support for BAP throughout Asia", said Steve Hart. With this addition, the industry-leading BAP program now has more than 30 Chinese retail and foodservice companies committed to seafood from BAP-certified processing plants, farms, hatcheries, and feed mills.
Best Aquaculture Practices is a third-party certification program developed by the Global Seafood Alliance. The GSA is the leading standards-setting organization for seafood, headquartered in Portsmouth, N.H., USA. The BAP label is the world's largest and most comprehensive third-party aquaculture certification. Its standards encompass food safety, environmental responsibility, social accountability, and animal health and welfare.
