CONSERVAS CAMPOS
«Extraction and processing activities should be integrated in response to new sustainability standards»

Conservas Campos

Marta Pagazaurtundua, Sustainable Development Director of Conservas Campos, highlighted the commitment to certifications (such as MSC) for their products, as part of a strategy covering economic development, respect for the environment and social wellbeing.

For Campos sustainability is a fundamental principle of our business and at the same time a goal we pursue daily; i.e. it’s the guarantee of our future. We assume the UN Brundtland Commission as ours, i.e. “to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” In other words, we stay away from sustainability by area and scope of action to embrace integral 360º sustainability, where we commit to a balance between economic development, respect for the environment and social wellbeing.

Correct! Campos was the first canning company to obtain the MSC custody chain certificate in their Spanish and Ecuadorian plants in 2007 and 2009 respectively. Since then we’ve been increasing commercialisation of blue label certified references. A label which guarantees the fishing of our products is done in sustainably managed fisheries, where their impacts on wild fish populations, ecosystems and their future have been assessed. Our commitment to MSC certified products has been guaranteed with the recent certification of our fleet, Albacora, as the first tuna company in the world to certify its catches in all the ocean regions pursuant to the MSC Sustainable Fishing Standard.

Although it’s true more and more customers include sustainability criteria in their purchases, we believe there’s still a long way to go for them to correctly interpret the meaning behind each stamp/logo/eco-label which generally identifies products of this kind. In the case of MSC blue label, thanks to MSC’s enormous work in disseminating this via different campaigns, both consumer and distribution oriented, we’re beginning to see greater knowledge regarding what said label involves.

Exactly! Our participation in initiatives centred on sustainability goes beyond the use of eco-labels. So, from the fishing resource sustainability perspective, we’ve been taking part in the MSC ‘Seas Forever Week’ ever since it began, and likewise take part in the AENOR-APR Responsible Tuna Fishing promotion campaigns which have been taking place in recent years, whose main aim, among others, is to ensure the social and work safety conditions on board the fishing vessels.

With the MSC and APR certifications of both our fleet and processing plants we ensure the sustainability of our products. Safe traceable legal healthy fish caught by fleets which safeguard their workers’ rights as well as preservation of the fishing resource and their habitat, fish which are subsequently processed by companies guaranteeing their staff’s working conditions together with a focus on environment protection.

At Campos we select our raw and auxiliary material suppliers based on economic, environmental and social criteria. We believe that only doing it this way we’ll be able to maintain our activity in the future, while at the same time generating shared value throughout our entire supply chain. The tuna supply chain is complex since numerous players located in different countries intervene, implying different contexts from both a regulatory perspective as well as a cultural and socioeconomic one. Prior to initiating any contractual relationship with our suppliers, it’s essential for Campos to know the context where their activity is carried out, and based on that, (and always pursuant to the regulatory framework applicable to their activity) we inform them of our code of conduct and request their adhesion to the same. We work with each of our suppliers to establish a series of minimum environmental and social baseline requisites, and from them we lay down the bases for a solid relationship in order to improve together.

We visualise a future where the integration of extraction and processing activities is essential to respond to current challenges, i.e. an ever more demanding and limiting regulatory framework, adaptation to new standards and sustainability certifications demanded by customers/great distribution channels, plus better use of resources among others. On the other hand, we feel that without the global commitment by all the groups of interest, where the rules of the game are the same for all the players without exception, regardless of the country where they operate or the type of company they are; their future will be seriously compromised.