This week, Premier Inn will become the world’s largest Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified national hotel chain, with a total of 635 locations now serving fish with the blue MSC label. As a result an extra three million certified sustainable portions of fish and chips will be served across the UK.
All Premier Inn restaurant brands, including Beefeater, Brewer’s Fayre and Table Table, will feature the MSC ‘blue tick’ on menus. Certified sustainable species appearing on menus will include prawns, pollock, haddock, whiting and cod in dishes such as fish and chips and the classic prawn cocktail.
The MSC label can already be found in a range of restaurants, fast-food outlets and fish and chip shops. This move by owners Whitbread PLC means diners will now be able to order an MSC certified meal from hundreds more locations in the UK, an overall increase of 27%.
Every MSC certified fish dish served creates an increased demand for sustainable, fully traceable fish from ocean to plate. The result is that more fisheries choose to improve their sustainability to meet the MSC standard, helping to ensure the future health of fish stocks.
James Pitcher, Director of Sustainability for Whitbread, said: “It is becoming ever more important for the hospitality industry to operate a sustainable, traceable supply chain and it is something we have been focusing on for a while now. Our customers expect us to do the right thing, so we are immensely proud to have achieved MSC certification for our restaurant brands.
“Whitbread is committed to sourcing products responsibly and we hope this will be a landmark step in helping set standards across the industry. The MSC’s certification and ecolabelling program enables everybody to play a part in securing a healthy future for our oceans.”
The news means there are now over 2,000 restaurant locations across the UK serving MSC certified traceable and sustainable seafood including fish and chip shops, hotels, sushi restaurants and fast food outlets.
George Clark, MSC UK Commercial Manager, comments, “It’s great news that UK diners have more sustainable choices when eating out. Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Table Table, and all our other certified restaurants are doing a great job of making eating-out more sustainable. Casual lunches, fish and chip suppers, slap-up dinners and even room service; all of these can now include MSC certified fish. Looking for the MSC ‘blue tick’ ecolabel on menus will ensure your fish has been sustainably caught and help protect our oceans for the future.”
MSC labelled menus can be found in a range of outlets including McDonalds, Wahaca, Ikea, Hilton and over 80 fish and chip shops.