The Global Aquaculture Alliance and Gfresh will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work collectively to promote responsible aquaculture in China.
As part of the agreement, Gfresh, an online marketplace for seafood, will promote on its e-commerce platform products from Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)-certified facilities, encouraging Chinese and international retail and foodservice buyers to source seafood from responsible operations. A section of its e-commerce platform will be dedicated to the BAP third-party certification program and responsible aquaculture.
In turn, GAA will encourage its network of BAP-certified facilities to capitalise on Gfresh’s service, networks and insights.
The agreement also involves a number of other cross-promotional efforts.
“We feel this partnership with Gfresh is well-suited for the Chinese market, where food safety is a major concern to customers. The food safety component of the BAP standards really offers Chinese retailers a unique marketing tool they can use to satisfy their customers concerns,” said Steve Hart, GAA’s vice president of education and outreach.
“This partnership with GAA is an important first step that will give Chinese buyers the ability to identify and source seafood that are certified safe and sustainable,” said Anthony Wan, vice president and co-founder of Gfresh.
The MoU will be officially signed at the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s GOAL 2016 conference in Guangzhou, China, on 21 September.
