The Outlaw Ocean Project

The Outlaw Ocean Project

I’m contacting you in light of our latest investigation which concerns the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry, and a link we’ve discovered between a company engaged in such practices and Tesco’s supply chain.

Shandong Haidu, which supplies seafood products to Lyons Seafoods Ltd., has received persons from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China under the state-imposed labor transfer program.

The United Nations, human rights organizations and academic experts agree that since 2018, the Chinese government has systematically subjected Xinj…

FredTesco's press office

Please contact Lara Conradie (lara.conradie@brc.org.uk) at the British Retail Consortium (BRC) for an industry-wide view. She is awaiting your email and has a response to give you from an industry perspective.

The Outlaw Ocean Project

Thanks, Fred. We are happy to engage BRC but will also need a formal reply from Tesco. If you prefer to not reply on behalf of Tesco unless you prefer us to say that Tesco declined to answer submitted questions and instead referred us to an industry-wide organization.

FredTesco's press office

You can say we referred you to an industry body as it’s an industry wide issue.

The Outlaw Ocean Project

Ok, but to be clear we will also necessarily be saying that Tesco declined to answer our Tesco specific questions.

The Outlaw Ocean Project

Our investigation continues to surface additional questions in relation to your company’s supply chain, specifically your suppliers Nomad Foods and Young's Seafood.

Our research shows that Northseafood Holland and Unibond Seafood International are white fish suppliers to Nomad Foods brands, which include the Birds Eye, Findus and Iglo ranges retailing across Europe. Tesco stocks a range of Nomad Foods’ Birds Eye branded products containing white fish, including cod and pollock.

Northseafood Holland has imported shipments of white fish, including pollock, from the processor Yantai Sanko Fishe…

The Outlaw Ocean Project

Since we last contacted Tesco in August, our investigation into the use of forced labor in China’s seafood processing industry has made further findings which we want to bring to your attention, as they relate to Tesco’s supply chain. Packaging analysis shows that a company called Cawoods Ltd. has been supplied salted pollock products from the Chinese company, Donggang Haimeng. We understand that Cawoods supplies salted pollock to Tesco, as per Tesco’s website. We have uncovered evidence that Donggang Haimeng used North Korean labor after the December 2019 deadline for the repatriation of over…