Crown Prince Says Statement On ISSF Eco label Incorrectff

By Atuna.com

The ISSF is not launching its own tuna eco-label, contrary to yesterday’s Crown Prince statement, and the reality has left the misinformed manager at the American seafood brand, Crown Prince, “surprised” and “having to seek an alternative marketing medium.”

In a press release that announced its tuna products are sustainably sourced, Crown Prince now says it incorrectly stated that ISSF was “moving towards creating a logo for product packed by its participating members.” Crown Prince yesterday claimed the logo would be “used at shelf level to alert consumers to the sustainable status of product.” Mahachai Marine International (MMP), Crown Prince’s supplier, recently became a member of the ISSF, (International Seafood Sustainability Foundation).

Shortly after the story made headlines in media, ISSF issued a corrective statement.

“The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation is not a fisheries certification body and therefore is not developing an ecolabel logo for on product marketing.”

Andréa Linton, Crown Prince’s natural division manager, says she was told by a member of the tuna industry in May that ISSF was preparing a logo to place on its members’ products. She was not able to disclose the identity of the source.

From a marketing perspective, she says a “concrete symbol” that indicates the product has met ISSF guidelines, would grab the consumer at the opportune selling moment, when consumers are standing at the store shelf. She recognizes that ISSF is not a certification body and that independent, third-party certification is a must, but she says the organization is a promoter of sustainable tuna fisheries and therefore should distinguish the products of its members.

Linton would like to show consumers that Crown Prince is buying from an ISSF participating company. The ISSF membership costs a premium, she adds, and the fee is partially absorbed by companies like Crown Prince who are paying more for the product. The benefit of being included, she says, is not profitable without a logo to attract consumers. “I can’t take advantage of the benefit and that’s where capitalizing on the efforts of ISSF and participating companies gets difficult.”

Linton says she received an email from ISSF yesterday that suggested Crown Prince could include the ISSF website address in marketing materials to alert consumers to the standards and efforts of the ISSF. But according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, any website referenced on their product label would automatically make Crown Prince liable for the website’s content, she says.

“Crown Prince can’t mention the ISSF on our product label so we will have to tell the ISSF story through our website or social media. We are working with ISSF on ways to do this but it is not ideal. Consumers still make most buying decisions at the shelf.  That’s where they are use to receiving the majority of information about a product.”