UK. London Heathrow has been recognised as the world’s first Sustainable Fish Airport.
An airport-wide initiative involving all food & beverage partners across five terminals led to the award from Sustain, an alliance for better food and farming.
Each F&B company investigated the source of their seafood and committed to removing ‘red-rated’ fish – meaning those considered the least sustainable by the Marine Conservation Society – within the year. The aim was to ensure a traceable and sustainable supply chain, Heathrow said.
The commitment covers four million fish meals per year, Heathrow noted, with more than 20 fish species served across the airport. Tuna is the most-sold fish, with salmon coming a close second. “Both of these have sustainability challenges, so businesses have worked to source from more plentiful stocks, more responsible farms, or caught by pole-and-line, a less destructive fishing method,” Heathrow said.
As part of the project, Heathrow’s F&B partners are adopting a sustainable fish buying policy.
The initiative’s influence has grown beyond the airport, with some national restaurant groups including Yo! and The Restaurant Group (which operates outlets such as Giraffe and Comptoir Libanais) adopting the principles of the Sustainable Fish Airport initiative across all operations.
Italian restaurant group Carluccio’s is introducing some sustainable British seafood species that aren’t often on menus, including clams, mussels and crab. Delaware North was the first contract caterer to take the pledge within Heathrow and has already excluded all fish that aren’t given a ‘good’ sustainability rating by the Marine Conservation Society.
“This project is an outstanding example of cross-industry collaboration – involving 37 restaurants and cafés, Sustain, the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) and Heathrow’s senior management team, all working together and sharing information over the past six months,” the airport said.
To celebrate achieving the accreditation, Heathrow hosted a series of activities and crafts in each of its terminals on World Ocean’s Day on Saturday (8 June).
Yo! has the widest range of fish species on its menu at Heathrow, and has used the initiative to make further improvements across its supply chain. “Ever since we opened our first Yo! more than 20 years ago, we’ve been committed to serving responsibly sourced fish and seafood,” said Head of Customer Experience Charlotte Whalley.
“It’s wonderful to be part of a community of like-minded businesses at Heathrow: Sustainable Fish Airport, dedicated to preserving the future of our oceans.”
Commenting on the initiative, Heathrow Head of Food & Beverage Ben Crowley said: “Our partners have demonstrated outstanding commitment to delivering sustainable fish options to every passenger that passes through Heathrow, and we’re immensely proud to be able to offer travellers the very best, whilst showing that quality and taste need not cost the ocean.
“The full process to reach the accreditation has included revising the sourcing of family favourites, including cod and salmon, so that they meet the highest standards of sustainability; creating new dishes with delicious sustainable species, such as coley; and redesigning menus to make choosing sustainable options clear and easy.”
Ruth Westcott, co-ordinator of the Sustainable Fish Airports campaign, commented: “When businesses work together on sustainable fish sourcing, we can achieve great things. Congratulations to all the businesses involved.
“Visitors should be excited and proud that they don’t need to worry about where their fish comes from when they eat in Heathrow Airport. I am particularly proud of the businesses that have taken this opportunity to change the fish supplied across their whole business, not just the outlets in Heathrow.
“Heathrow has proven that airports can be a catalyst for change, and I look forward to the next airport that will step up to the plate and become leaders in tackling overfishing.”
Sustainable Restaurant Association Director Simon Heppner added: “With over 80 million people passing through the airport every year, Heathrow has an important role to play in building awareness of the challenge faced by dwindling fish species, and how we can all make a difference.
“The willingness of all partners to engage with this collaborative effort and to make changes to their sourcing and menus has been great to see and I’m looking forward to the next challenge in making Heathrow a leader in ethical retail.”
NOTE: The Moodie Davitt Report also publishes The Foodie Report, the world’s only media focused on airport (and other travel-related) food & beverage. The Foodie Report Newsletter is published every two weeks and The Foodie Report eZine every month.
Please send all news of food & beverage outlet openings, together with images, menus, video etc to Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com to ensure unrivalled global exposure.
The company also organises the annual Airport Food & Beverage (FAB) Conference & Awards. FAB 2019 will be held in Dallas, hosted by Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on 26-27 June.
