Correspondence
Email sent to the press office of Asda.
The email said that two suppliers of Asda - Nomad Foods and Young’s Seafood - are supplied seafood products by companies in China that have recieved persons from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Northseafood Holland and Unibond Seafood International are white fish suppliers to Nomad Foods brands, which include the Birds Eye, Findus and Iglo ranges retailing across Europe. Asda stocks a range of Nomad Foods’ Birds Eye branded products containing white fish, including cod and pollock. Northseafood Holland has imported shipments of white fish, including pollock, from the processor, Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd., based in China. Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a government labor transfer program since 2019 and until at least April 2023. Unibond Seafood International is a white fish supplier to Young’s Seafood, which supplies Asda with a range of Young’s branded products containing white fish. Unibond Seafood has imported shipments of white fish, including cod and pollock, from Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Foodstuffs Co. Ltd., a supplier based in China. Qingdao Tianyuan has also received persons transferred by the Chinese government from the Xinjiang region since 2020 and until at least May 2023. The email asked for comment on whether white fish sourced from these Chinse plants had ended up in any of the branded white fish products under Nomad Foods or Young’s Seafood brands or in any of Asda's own branded seafood sold by Asda.
Asda's corporate affairs office responded that Asda does not take supply from Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Foodstuffs Co. Ltd into our own brand products and has no relationship with Northseafood Holland or Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. The email added: If you have any evidence to the contrary, please do provide this and we’ll look into it. We would defer you to Nomad Foods and Young’s for any further information. The email asked for the information to be treated on background.
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied that for legal and journalistic reasons, the questions and answers remain on record.
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed Asda: Can we ask how ASDA has been able to confirm that no raw material from Qingdao Tianyuan is present in ASDA own-brand products supplied by Young's Seafood?
Joe Furniss, Press Office Manager replied: "All raw material used in Asda own brand products is subject to supplier facility framework which we control. Asda must grant approval for any site to be used in the production of its own branded products, therefore we can view the facilities where all raw ingredients are produced for Asda own-branded products which shows that we have no relationship Qingdao Tianyuan Aquatic Foodstuffs Co. Ltd into our own brand products and we have no relationship with Northseafood Holland or Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. Once again, if you can provide any evidence to the contrary I am more than happy to raise this query again with that new information."
The Outlaw Ocean Project responded: "Our findings indicate shortcomings in seafood traceability systems, including among Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified entities. Beyond the upstream supplier approval process, does ASDA have visibility on the movement of material through the supply chain and assurance on product traceability, batch management, etc at each location handling the product? How does ASDA verify that your product traceability is fit for purpose and provides robust assurance that material from Qingdao Tianyuan hasn't entered your own-brand product supply?"
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed Elliott Lancaster, Senior Press Officer at Asda, saying: "Since we last contacted Asda in August, our investigation into the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry has made further findings which we want to bring to your attention, as they relate to Asda’s supply chain.
Packaging analysis shows that a company called Cawoods Ltd. has been supplied salted pollock products from the Chinese company, Donggang Haimeng. We understand that Cawoods supplies salted pollock to Asda, as per Asda’s website. We have uncovered evidence that Donggang Haimeng used North Korean labor after the December 2019 deadline for the repatriation of overseas North Korean workers required under United Nations Security Council sanctions. This evidence shows North Korean labor at Donggang Haimeng’s factory in Liaoning, China, as recently as 2023.
While we understand that you may not be aware of the above issues, does Asda have any comment to make in response to this email? Can you confirm or deny if Asda has sold any product sourced from Donggang Haimeng since December 2019?"