UK universities fast-track MSC certified fish onto menus

The University Caterers Organisation, TUCO, has teamed up with the Marine Stewardship Council to offer its members a fast-track way to put MSC certified fish on their menus. The new system will make MSC certification simpler, quicker and less expensive for members, many of whom want to serve fish that is demonstrably sustainable.

The TUCO Ltd Group Certification initiative was launched at TUCO's sustainability-themed annual conference this week. It has received a warm welcome from TUCO members, particularly The University of Reading and Harper Adams University, who have already achieved MSC certification through the TUCO group.

By joining the group, university caterers will be supporting sustainable fisheries and helping create a wave of change in sustainable fishing. Group members will receive ready-made documents and materials needed for the MSC’s Chain of Custody traceability certification, essential for those wanting to display the ecolabel on their menus.

Managing Director of TUCO, Julie Barker explains, "TUCO has always been about using the size of our joint membership to provide benefits to caterers and when we discovered that we could make MSC certification more accessible for universities by forming a large group, we knew it would be something that would be of real value to them. As sustainable sourcing of all ingredients, particularly fish, is such a key issue for the foodservice industry, we felt this was a strategically important move for our members, and set up a working party led and coordinated by our Contracts Officer, Jane Eve.

"The group is a great way for us to be able to support the work of the MSC by getting more sustainable fish on more menus - we’re really excited about the amount of interest we’ve had already!"

The University of Reading and Harper Adams University achieved MSC certification by joining the TUCO Group in its pilot phase. Both were impressed by the new system that quickly earned them MSC certification and the ability to put the MSC ecolabel on menus.

Ruth Westcott, Foodservice Outreach Manager for the MSC welcomed the TUCO move: "This is a real world-first from TUCO. By creating a group for certification, they are opening up the programme to hundreds of thousands of students who eat in member universities every day. With students forming the next generation of informed consumers, they have enormous power to support sustainable fishing practices and help transform the way the world’s oceans are fished for the better."

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