Iceland Foods recognised as top supermarket with most sustainable own-brand seafood

For the first time, Iceland Foods has been identified as the number one supermarket by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for having the highest percentage of its own-brand wild seafood products bearing the blue MSC ecolabel. The MSC UK & Ireland Market Report 2022 found that 76 percent of Iceland’s own-brand seafood range was MSC certified, proportionally ahead of all other UK supermarkets.

According to the report, Iceland was followed closely by Tesco at 73 percent and Lidl at 72 percent.

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The report also spotlighted Iceland for becoming the first UK retailer to offer whole frozen MSC Cornish sardines under its own brand in 2020 – 2021 and for its “great support of local, certified sustainable fisheries in the UK”.

Furthermore, the MSC report presented findings from a bi-annual independent consumer research survey conducted by Globescan for MSC. It found that:

• Two in five UK consumers are willing to buy more sustainable seafood
• 50 percent of UK consumers who have changed their diets have done so because of an environmental reason
• 41 percent of consumers buy eco-labelled seafood as often as they can, a figure that has increased from 35 percent in 2020.

Overall, the report concluded “retailers and foodservice businesses in the UK and Ireland have continued to ensure certified fisheries are being recognised and rewarded for operating sustainably.”