Aldi shows where its tuna came from

Aldi Australia has changed its tuna labelling for the better. Better than the statutory requirements, in fact, and across the entire tuna range. Every can now enables consumers to track the Aldi tuna they're buying back to its source to make sure that it has been caught in a sustainable area and manner.

At a minimum, the new cans display:

   1.  Common name

   2.  Scientific (Latin) name

   3.  Production method (wild fishery or aquaculture)

   4.  The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) catchment areas (wild fishery) or country of origin (aquaculture). Consumers can plug this into www.aldi.com.au/traceyourtuna for information on the fishing boat or port of entry.

All Aldi tuna is transported from the ship to the factory (by refrigerated road transport) where it is packed into retail packaging. Each truck load has a manifest indicating the tonnage, species and FAO location where the raw material was caught. At the processing plant, all raw material is clearly labelled and segregated by shipment. The FAO code is ink jetted on the can at the same time the batch code is printed during the production run.

Aldi stated that its strict supply guidelines and new labelling ensures that all of its canned tuna is now fully traceable.

“As one of Australia’s leading retailers, we take our corporate responsibility seriously. The communities in which we operate are central to our success, so we continually look for ways to ensure our products and services are making a positive contribution to the lives of our customers and their communities,” said an ALDI Australia spokesperson.

Aldi added that its partnership with SFP (Sustainable Fisheries Partnership) and MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) was continuing to help it develop progressive seafood sustainability efforts.

ALDI has also committed to work towards having all wild caught fish sourced through sustainable and equitable methods by 2016, including Pole & Line caught and Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) free methods.