Correspondence
Email sent to the press office of Co-Op.
The email said: "I’m contacting you in light of our latest investigation which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s food processing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in such practices and two of your suppliers - Nomad Foods and Young’s Seafood.
Our research shows that 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. Co-op 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 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.
Our research further shows that Unibond Seafood International is a white fish supplier to Young’s Seafood, which supplies Co-op with a range of Young’s branded products containing white fish.
The United Nations, human rights organizations and academic experts agree that since 2018, the Chinese government has systematically subjected Xinjiang’s predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities to forced labor across the country via state-sanctioned employment programs which use coercive methods in worker enrollment and obstruct freedom to terminate employment.
We have the following questions:
- Could you confirm whether white fish sourced from Yantai Sanko Fisheries or Qingdao Tianyuan has been used in any of the Birds Eye branded white fish sold by Co-op since 2019?
- Could you confirm whether white fish sourced from Qingdao Tianyuan has been used in any of the Young’s Seafood branded white fish sold by Co-op since 2020?
Does Co-op have any comment or clarification to make regarding the above information? Please let us know by close of business August 29, 2023."