Sustainability in Royal Greenland

At Royal Greenland, we believe that sustainable use of marine resources is a long term, effective investment for us as a company, as well as for our owners, the government of Greenland, and thus the Greenlandic people and society as such. Corporate Sustainability Manager at Royal Greenland explains:

"Based on our Greenlandic roots, we see our social responsibility as a must in the company. During the last 3 years, we have had a systematic approach to CSR with regular steering committee meetings to follow up on projects. Our main focus areas are sustainable fishery and working condition and human rights including training of staff, but also environment, local involvement in Greenland and business integrity are issues that we work with."

That being said, there are many different definitions of sustainability. Our CSR policy is based on UN Global Compact's 10 principles for sustainable business operations. The starting point is to comply with the legislation in the countries in which we operate and seek to adhere to international principles for responsible business operations.

Sustainable fishing

There is no international definition of sustainable fishing. In Royal Greenland, we consider a stock sustainable when the resource is in a healthy condition and managed on the basis of a long-term perspective, in accordance with biological recommendations. At the core stands the principle that fishery takes place according to the "Maximum Sustainable Yield" principle, i.e. a stock should not be fished beyond the point where it is able to reproduce itself, while at the same time managed with consideration of the environment, economic and social aspects.

Evaluation of all species

Royal Greenland categorizes all species in our assortment into three categories – sustainable, unsustainable and data deficient. 90% of Royal Greenland's purchased raw materials fall within the best category. The remainder is typically fisheries lacking reliable data. In addition, Royal Greenland is implementing improvement projects through Sustainable Fisheries Greenland for key stocks with challenging stock profiles – e.g. Greenland halibut.

Sustainability and certifications

Not all Royal Greenland's species are certified. It is, however, our position that a species and associated fishery can be sustainable without a certificate. Auditing in accordance with specific requirements can nevertheless strengthen administration, research and studies in fisheries to the benefit of both fishermen and, in the long term, the industry. Currently, 41% of Royal Greenland's raw material is MSC certified and the aim is to increase this proportion in the coming years, especially through certification of our Greenlandic raw materials.  Currently, the Greenlandic fishery for lumpfish roe is under certification as well as the Greenlandic trawl fishery for cod, haddock and coalfish in the Barents Sea – both are expected to obtain certification in 2015. Additionally, the West Greenlandic prawn fishery, which obtained certification in 2013, has undergone its first and second inspection with good results.

Full utilization of raw material

In addition to working with sustainability in terms of fishery, Royal Greenland aims to reduce waste and utilize as much of the fish as possible, which makes sense both from a financial and environmental perspective. The overall exploitation of whole fish of all species purchased in first sales for Royal Greenland's factories in Greenland in 2013/14 amounted to 66%. Further potential for optimization in 2015 are seen in prawn shells, crab carcasses and cod fillet offcuts. Prawn shells are used to produce shrimp meal, which is resold as a consumable product for the broth and soup industry. For Greenland halibut the average yield was 92%, up from 84% in 2008/9, and only skin and bones are discarded. Heads and tails are sold to China where they are valued soup ingredients, frills/fins go to Japan for sushi and filets are sold in Europe in both retail and foodservice.