Correspondence
Email sent to the media contact at Martin's Foods was blocked, so an email with the same text was sent to the company's interim president, John Ruane.
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 a company engaged in such practices and a supplier in your supply chain - Yantai Sanko Fisheries.
Martin’s Foods stocks Dagim Tahorim flounder fillets. Dagim Tahorim imports flounder from the processor Yantai Sanko Fisheries, based in China. Yantai Sanko Fisheries Co. Ltd. has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state- imposed labor transfer program since 2019 and until at least 2022.
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 schemes which use coercive methods in worker enrollment. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor. Does Martin’s Foods have any comment to make on the above information? Please let me know by close of business July 19, 2023."