Correspondence
Email sent to the Fleishman Hillard PR agency, which handles press queries for SuperValu.
The email said: "We understand that Fleishman Hillard handles media queries for SuperValu. We’re 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 SuperValu’s supply chain.
Trade records show that Pan Euro Foods has been supplied Alaska pollock from Rizhao Jia Tian Xia Foods, a Meijia Group company. The Meijia Group has received persons from the Xinjiang region of China under a state-imposed labor transfer program, since 2019 and until at least 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. The U.S. has prohibited the importation of goods produced from state-imposed forced labor. According to our research, ‘Diggers’ fish goujons, made from Alaska pollock and processed at Rizhao Jia Tian Xia Foods, are sold at SuperValu stores in Ireland.
While we recognize that SuperValu may not be aware of the above issues, we wish to ask if SuperValu has any comment or statement to make in response to this email."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed three people at the PR agency Fleishman Hillard which handles SuperValu's press queries: "We haven’t heard back from you about the below query and so we wanted to check back in to see if SuperValu has any comment or statement in response to our research. Could you let us know by close of business today (Monday, October 16) if they do?: