Safeway named #1 in seafood sustainability by Greenpeace

Hi- As I have mentioned before, I am a member of Dominick's J4U program, which I love. At least several times a week, I get emails from Dominick's, enticing me to log into their site, so I can find out what deals they have for me that I can apply to my fresh values card. Right now there is a coupon for a free breakfast sandwich, which people can add to their card.

When I just opened up my most recent email from Dominick's, they were trying to entice me to buy seafood such as crab and lobster from them. I can't see myself buying frozen lobster from them. At the end of the email I was taken aback by their mention of the fact that Safeway has been named #1 in seafood sustainability among the 20 national supermarkets Greenpeace looked at. Whole Foods apparently also received high marks from Greenpeace.

Apparently Greenpeace gave Safeway high marks partly because they have come out with a store brand version of canned tuna which has been sustainably caught. Apparently this store brand is cheaper than any of the national brands such as chicken of the sea or bumblebee.

Does anyone here ever buy seafood from Dominick's? I did not think that they were particularly sustainable. Any other comments would be appreciated. Thanks, Nancy

About twice a year they have a sale on whole salmon. The fish are gutted but still have the head, fins, & scales.
It a really good price and the product is very good quality. They claim they're wild, I suppose they could be bluffuing but I see no reason to think they're lying.

Hi- Is this salmon fresh or frozen or thawed but previously frozen? I guess I never associated Dominick's with having a great seafood department like Whole Foods does. Thanks, Nancy

I honestly never asked if it was previously frozen, but the ones I buy are not frozen at the time of purchase. They only have them for 5 days. The Dominick's by me gets like 15 of them and I make sure to buy at least 2. Within a few days they're gone without a trace.

I'm actually at a conference where we were discussing just this - I work in the field of sustainability - and the impressive innovation Safeway has made is managing to meet Greenpeace's sustainability standards without charging a premium. Bringing sustainable products to mass markets at a competitive price is a critical step that companies are really struggling with.

Here's the Green peace announcement with more details:

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/media- ... s-Nichols/

Hi- I just looked at the Greenpeace article, and Supervalu, which is the parent company of Jewel, got a failing grade from them. Out of the 20 national supermarket chains they looked at three of them received a failing grade.

Interesting. I was surprised and disappointed to see Meijer and Publix, two generally good regional operations with nice seafood, fare so poorly. Costco's mediocrity according to this study is also somewhat surprising to me. Not surprised to see the excellent regional chain Harris Teeter (which is much like Publix from the outsider's view) fare relatively well. Jewel, like its basement dweller sidekick Winn Dixie, is crap top to bottom, so no surprise there.

Hi- The Jewel at Plaza Del Lago on Sheridan Road in Wilmette, used to have really good seafood, Mostly because they were located right next to a Burhop's. People in that neighborhood have money, and so if that particular Jewel sells crappy seafood, they will just go to Burhop's to buy it. I have not bought any seafood from that store in ages though, and I do not know if the quality of their seafood is as good as it was a few years ago. That is the only Jewel that I have ever bought fresh seafood from though. I do buy frozen seafood from them on occasion. Hope this helps, Nancy

I have to say that over the years I've really become a fan of the seafood at Domionick's.
Their frozen swai and tilapia are very good quality and very reasonably priced. Had I not been turned on to Hmart I'd say it was my favorite place for fish.

yeah, agree about the safeway frozen tilapia. Man I am pumped to hear that the safeway brand tuna is sustainably caught. I will definitely be switching to that.

Hi- I work for a couple that grew up in Taiwan on Saturday mornings, and the wife likes to cook, and loves HMart, and goes there at least once a month, even though she lives in Winnetka. That is why I decided to check out the store a few weeks ago. I mentioned to her that the seafood looked good, and especially the crab and lobster. She told me that she would buy the live seafood there, but she would not buy most of the fish there. She did not trust the source of the fish. Is the fish there sustainably caught? I got the impression that most of the fish came from other countries that she did not trust. Thanks for any info., Nancy

FYI - HMart currently has Norway Mackerel on sale for $1.88/lb.
It's great,