At the Sustainability Solutions Center of the Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI) show in Dallas, the Arlington, Va.-based institute released its first "Sustainable Seafood Toolkit," a free resource providing food retail answers regarding the integration and implementation of seafood sustainability procurement policies and procedures.

Created by FMI’s Sustainable Seafood Committee (SSC) and funded by Bumblebee Foods LLC, this guidance document cites industry expertise on how to approach sustainable seafood sourcing. SSC provided helpful steps for development and implementation across data collection, procurement, education and reform. The toolkit features best practices and case studies among retailers, suppliers and non-governmental organizations.

“Selling fresh seafood in grocery stores certainly isn’t a new concept — with more than 92 percent of retailers offering this product — but the sustainable seafood trend is, and it’s growing,” said Jeanne von Zastrow, senior director of sustainability and industry relations at FMI. “In order to be on-trend with consumer demand, FMI has created this comprehensive document to get our industry thinking about how seafood relates to a company’s social responsibility, consumer interests and bottom line.”