Correspondence
Email sent to the press office of Sainsbury's.
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 three of your suppliers - Nomad Foods, Young’s Seafood and Lyon’s Seafoods.
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. Sainsbury’s 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 Sainsbury’s with a range of Young’s branded products containing white fish, as well as Sainsbury’s own-brand products such as Breaded Omega 3 Pollock Fillet Fish Fingers, according to packaging analysis.
In addition to the above, Lyons Seafood’s supplies Sainsbury’s with own-brand products containing squid, such as Sainsbury's Frozen Raw Seafood Selection.
Lyon’s Seafoods has imported shipments of squid from the processor Shandong Haidu Ocean Products Co. Ltd., based in China. Shandong Haidu has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a government labor transfer program since 2021 and until at least December 2022.
Shandong Haidu is a Chishan Group company. Fishing vessels owned by the group have been observed fishing in North Korean waters in contravention of UN sanctions and fishing illegally in Indonesian waters. The group also owns at least two reefer vessels which have transshipped squid with dozens of fishing ships tied to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing as well as human rights abuses. Other seafood processing plants operated by the Chishan Group have received persons transferred by the Chinese government from the Xinjiang region as recently as May 2023.
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 Sainsbury’s 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 Sainsbury’s since 2020?
- Could you confirm whether white fish sourced from Qingdao Tianyuan has been used in any Sainsbury’s own-brand
- Could you confirm whether squid sourced from Shandong Haidu has been used in any Sainsbury’s own-brand products since 2018?
Does Sainsbury’s have any comment or clarification to make regarding the above information? Please let us know by close of business August 29, 2023."
The Sainsbury's press office replied: “Protecting the welfare of people and communities in supply chains is fundamental to our sourcing practices. Forced labour has no place in our supply chain and we are thoroughly investigating these allegations.”
The Outlaw Ocean Project replied: "Thank you for this response.
Our investigation continues to surface questions in relation to your company's supply chain, specifically your supplier Lyon's Seafoods. Sainsbury's stocks a number of seafood products supplied by Lyon's Seafoods, including an own-brand seafood mix containing squid. Lyon's Seafoods imports squid from Shandong Haidu Ocean Product Co. Ltd., a Chinese supplier.
Shandong Haidu has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a government labor transfer program since 2021 and until as recently as December 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 programs which use coercive methods in worker enrollment, and obstruct freedom to leave employment.
Shandong Haidu is a Chishan Group company. Fishing vessels owned by the group have been observed fishing in North Korean waters in contravention of UN sanctions and fishing illegally in Indonesian waters. The group also owns at least two reefer vessels which have transshipped with dozens of fishing ships tied to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing as well as human rights abuses including forced labor and gross negligence manslaughter since 2018.
We have the following questions:
- Could you confirm whether squid sourced from Shandong Haidu has been used in any of the Sainsbury's branded seafood sold by Sainsbury's since 2021?
- Could you confirm whether squid sourced from Shandong Haidu has been used in any of the Sainsbury's branded seafood sold by Sainsbury's since 2018?
Does Sainsbury’s have any comment or clarification to make regarding the above information? Please let us know by close of business September 4, 2023, noting that all interactions are on record."
The Outlaw Ocean Project's publishing partner in the UK, Sky News, contacted Sainsbury's for comment on the investigation.
Becky Cimelli, Media Relations Manager for Sainsbury's, replied to Sky News, saying: "A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said, 'All of our suppliers have to meet our high ethical and worker welfare standards. If we have any reason to believe there is a situation within our supply chains which is in breach of those standards we take immediate action. We are working together with our suppliers and wider industry partners to understand the situation and take the most responsible and appropriate next steps.'"
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed the Sainsbury's press office, saying: "Since we last contacted Sainsbury’s 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 your 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 Sainsbury’s, as per the Sainsbury’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 Sainsbury’s have any comment to make in response to this email? Can you confirm or deny if Sainsbury’s has sold any product sourced from Donggang Haimeng since December 2019?"
Sophie Andrews, Media Relations Manager, replied for Sainsbury's: "Please see below for our response: A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: 'Forced labour has no place in our supply chain. We’re in contact with Cawoods and are urgently investigating these allegations.'"