Correspondence
Email sent to two contact addresses for US Foods.
The email said: "I’m writing to you in light of our latest investigation, which concerns abuses in the Chinese squid fishing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between companies engaged in abuses and your supply chain. According to our research, US Foods sells various PanaPesca squid products. Import records show that PanaPesca USA has received multiple shipments of squid from Zhejiang Industrial Group, a Chinese seafood processing company. It is majority-owned by Zhejiang Shengda Ocean, the beneficial owner of a squid ship that dropped a dead crew member at the port of Montevideo, Uruguay, in January 2019. Two other vessels under the same ownership have a history of disabling their vessel tracking, activity indicative of possible illegal fishing activity and which is in contravention of Chinese regulations. While we recognize that US Foods may not be aware of the above concerns, we wanted to ask you if US Foods has any comment to make in light of this email? Please let us know by close of business on September 28, 2023, noting that interactions remain on record."
The Outlaw Ocean Project emailed three contact addresses at US Foods, saying: "Further to our email dated September 22, 2023, I'm writing to update that our investigation continues to raise questions about your company's supply chain.
A video dated December 2022 featured on the website of Zhejiang Industrial Group shows Harbor Banks packaging on a squid packing line. As detailed in our previous email, Zhejiang Industrial Group is tied to squid fishing vessels implicated in the suspicious death of a crew member in January 2019, and activity indicative of illegal fishing.
While we recognize that US Foods may not be aware of the above concerns, we wanted to ask if US Foods has any comment to make on its relationship with Zhejiang Industrial Group?"