MCLEAN, VA.—Hilton released a progress update on the implementation of its global commitment to responsibly source its seafood by 2022. The report details how Hilton established a baseline of its seafood purchasing data, created relevant training for all Team Members and deepened partnerships with related non-governmental organizations and suppliers. Progress against the company’s commitment includes:
- Hilton has collected and analyzed available seafood purchasing data across more than 350 hotels, 500 suppliers and across 57 species groups, to establish a baseline of its seafood purchasing data.
- Hilton has developed training resources on responsible sourcing and sustainable seafood, and rolled them out to Team Members around the globe.
- Hilton became the first global hotel company to achieve MSC group certification for 60 owned, leased and managed hotels in Europe.
- In Asia, the Hilton Singapore was the first hotel ever to receive Chain of Custody certification for MSC and ASC certified seafood.
- In the Americas, Hilton successfully worked with Sysco—a major food service distributor—on a national shrimp program to assist Hilton in reaching its 2022 goals.
“Identifying, implementing and scaling up responsible sourcing practices is a very complex and necessary task,” said Maxime Verstraete, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Hilton. “We are committed to addressing the environmental and social impacts of our supply chain—beginning with where we can have a tangible positive impact: seafood.”
Hilton’s sustainable seafood commitment comprises three primary goals:
- Protect the endangered. By 2022, eliminate the procurement of endangered species identified by WWF utilizing International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora rankings from all owned, leased, managed and franchised Hilton properties;
- Buy from the best. By 2022, source at least 25 percent of Hilton’s total global seafood procurement volume for owned, managed and leased properties from MSC certified fisheries and ASC certified farms; and
- Invest in the rest. By 2022, source the rest of Hilton’s owned, managed and leased seafood volume from fisheries and farms that have entered into the official process of full assessment for certification against MSC or ASC standards, comprehensive fishery improvement projects, aquaculture improvement projects aiming to meet the ASC standards, and species specific sources listed as “green” on WWF seafood guides. For tuna products, Hilton will also source from International Seafood Sustainability Foundation participating companies.
To learn more about Hilton’s commitment to sustainable seafood and its other environmental sustainability initiatives, visit http://cr.hilton.com/.
