Thank you for inviting me to speak before this committee. It is a pleasure to virtually be here.
Good morning, everyone.
My name is Alexandra Leclerc, and I am the procurement manager for Metro.
Metro is a Canadian retailer that generates annual revenue of more than $18 billion and operates in the food and pharmacy industries mainly in Quebec and Ontario. You are probably familiar with some of our brands, including Metro, Super C, Food Basics, Jean Coutu, Brunet and others.
The traceability of fish and seafood is a new theme at Metro. It's part of a comprehensive approach to corporate responsibility that dates back to 2010, when the company adopted its policy on sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. That policy covers all our seafoods, whether fresh, frozen, canned, processed or otherwise.
The policy is based on the following five procurement principles: healthy species, responsible operating methods, traceability, respect for workers and socioeconomic development. In all honesty, however, although those five principles are important, traceability is the main pillar of our policy. In fact, it's a prerequisite for our suppliers.
This means that Metro systematically requires that all its suppliers submit a complete traceability for all the products they offer, even before we list them or place an order. That traceability is used to evaluate their products. We conduct a survey of the literature and scientific data to ensure that our product is consistent with the first two principles, healthy species and responsible operating methods.
Traceability is based on five major elements.
The first is the scientific name of the species, its Latin name, which is unique to every species. By using its name, we can be sure we are speaking the same language as our suppliers. This is a challenge in some instances as certain industry players are not used to, or not very comfortable with, the scientific nomenclature. However, we believe that the use of common names is not enough and that they present a risk because some can be very vague or general or refer to several different species.
The second element of complete traceability is geographic provenance, which we define as the place where the item was caught, fished or raised. This is also a challenge because it is often confused with the product's country of origin, which is defined under Canadian legislation as the place of last major processing. These two elements are not always identical and in fact are rarely so. Any confusion between the two makes matters all the more difficult for retailers because, to assess the sustainability of a product, they must know where it comes from; they have to know its geographic provenance.
The third element of a complete traceability is the capture type. The item may be a wild product or a farmed product.
The fourth element is operating method: the fishing gear used or the type of aquaculture.
The fifth element is the determination whether the product is certified or the product of sustainability initiatives.
Once the product is approved, traceability information is stored in one of our databases, which we regularly update with our suppliers to ensure that what they have previously told us his still true today. Their ability to document their supply chain back to the fishing boats or farming sites used is randomly tested. We also have a DNA testing verification program to validate the species reported.
For all these reasons, our traceability program enables us to guarantee a supply of responsible products. The program helps us assess the sustainability of products and adopt transparent and complete labelling for the products offered in our stores, under our private labels and at our counters.
For Metro, offering complete traceability is a priority, even a point of pride, because that helps consumers make their own decisions based on their knowledge and personal values. It is generally viewed as a sign of transparency and inspires trust.
That completes my presentation. I will be pleased to provide further details and to answer your questions.
Thank you very much.