Premier Inn and Lidl support sustainable seafood

By Brian Collett — Premier Inn has become the world’s largest national hotel chain to gain the certification of the Marine Stewardship Council, the NGO better known as the MSC, that promotes sustainable fishing.

All 635 Premier locations, including the Beefeater, Brewer’s Fayre, and Table Table brands, now feature the MSC blue tick on their menus.

In practical terms, three million extra fish and chip meals will now be served with the certification every year in the UK. Altogether, 2,000 UK restaurants are MSC-certified.

James Pitcher, sustainability director for Whitbread, Britain’s biggest catering group, which owns Premier, said: ‘It is becoming ever more important for the hospitality industry to operate a sustainable, traceable supply chain, and it is something we have been focusing on for a while now.

‘Our customers expect us to do the right thing, so we are immensely proud to have achieve MSC certification for our restaurant brands’.

In Italy, the German budget supermarket chain Lidl, with 552 stores, has committed to selling more wild-caught fish and seafood and aquaculture products with sustainability certifications from the MSC; the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, which also promotes sustainability; and Friend of the Sea, which supports conservation of the marine habitat.

Lidl Italy announced that it would attempt to eliminate products sourced from illegal fishing, overfished areas, endangered species and transshipment at sea.

Additionally, it will try to avoid suppliers that disregard the welfare of their fish and seafood through the use of chemicals and antibiotics, and those that ignore human rights.

A company statement said: ‘Lidl Italy is committed through a new purchasing policy to promoting a more sustainable fishing to protect fish species and marine ecosystems’.