The hotel group will also be engaging with concessionaires to do the same. "The unsustainable harvest of the world's oceans has led to the depletion, and in some cases collapse, of many of the world's major fish stocks. It's becoming clear that the ocean is not a bottomless resource and it is time we all take responsibility for preserving and sustaining our environment," says Michael Farr, Group GM Brand and Communications at Sun International.
"Seafood is an important component of our guest offering and we see this as an excellent opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to responsible business."
To this end Sun International has developed a group-wide sustainable seafood strategy which is supported by a Sustainability Seafood Policy and signed by the chief executive, Graeme Stephens. "This is a key differentiator of our corporate sustainability strategy, Sun Glow, and we are very pleased to have the support of SASSI in the endeavour," says Farr.
Achieving the goal of 2017 will require chefs and restaurants serving seafood at any of Sun International's 15 participating properties, which include a total of 26 restaurants in South Africa, to carefully redesign menus and recipes to ensure that only SASSI-approved green listed fish from sustainable suppliers feature on the supply chain. "This is a very important commitment as it does not only force us to become astutely sustainable internally, but it will also force our suppliers to do the same. This will have a significant effect on the seafood industry in South Africa," he says.
Farr says this commitment is an important step towards contributing to the positive change for healthier marine ecosystems. "Through this partnership with SASSI, we have been able to empower both our employees and guests to make sustainable seafood choices. Although we are the first hospitality group in our industry to publically commit to transforming, we hope that our commitment will encourage other hospitality groups to follow suit," he says.
Farr says they have also introduced a dedicated SASSI training programme which will be extended to all chefs, waiters and procurement staff throughout the group. "The training programme equips our staff with the tools and information they need to understand the importance of sourcing and serving sustainable seafood to our guests. We hope that our staff will be able to pass on this message in their interactions with guests and suppliers and act as ambassadors for our commitment to sustainability," says Farr.
