We asked Culimer USA’s Vice President of CSR & ESG, Renee Perry, to give us a peek inside the company’s operations, values, and long-term goals. Read on to learn about one of the GTA’s fantastic partners!
Q: Can you give us a brief overview of what Culimer USA does?
A: Culimer USA is a leading resource for sushi programs that aims to be all-natural, sustainable, traceable, and ethically sourced. Working with sushi operators, supermarkets, restaurant groups, and other food service companies, Culimer’s mission is to Enrich Society Through Food by continuously raising the standards of retail sushi until they are equal to those in Japan.
Culimer achieves this by matching best-in-class producers with operators that desire to have the high quality sushi programs. Culimer sources high quality, premium sushi ingredients from around the globe to curate responsibly sourced and unique sushi programs for the U.S. customers. Products include MSC Certified Bigeye, Bluefin, Skipjack, Sockeye Salmon, ASC Certified Hamachi, Albacore and Kanpachi and BAP Certified King Salmon along with responsibly sourced Nori, rice and more.
Q: What do you think makes Culimer USA unique?
A: Culimer USA’s core mission is to “Enrich Society Through Food”. Our goal is to raise the standards of retail sushi in North America. We believe we can achieve this by providing the highest quality ingredients and unparalleled customer service. As a leader in global traceability and a company committed to the Sustainable Development Goals, we partner with companies who are also on a sustainability journey. Together, we can be a force for good to protect our most valuable resources. To fulfill our mission of enriching society through food, we focus on a triple bottom line—people, planet, profit.
Culimer USA has always gone the extra mile and paved the way in the industry through impactful leadership within seafood sustainability, traceability and food safety, as we are a MSC/ASC Chain of custody certified company as well as GFSI certified.
Q: What is the most significant change you would like to see in the tuna fishing industry and why?
A: As industry members, achieving sustainability relies heavily on traceability, which in turn depends on key electronic data points across the entire supply chain. The global and interconnected nature of seafood supply chains underscores the need for active industry engagement in addressing illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Currently, systemic gaps in data transparency hinder seafood companies’ ability to identify IUU fishing risks and prevent governments from effectively implementing regulations to combat IUU fishing.
Culture plays a significant role in the seafood industry, with companies collaborating with suppliers from diverse cultural backgrounds. It’s essential to respect and acknowledge these cultural differences, investing time to build trust to effectively communicate transparency expectations and requirements.
The complexity and accessibility of data pose significant challenges. While numerous databases serve various functions, they often overwhelm companies, lack completeness, or remain inaccessible to the public. This restricted data availability complicates the verification of supply chain information and adds to its time-consuming nature. Streamlining databases and providing guidance on data access and interpretation would enhance the accessibility and usability of information, easing capacity constraints and facilitating efficient risk analysis.
Implementing electronic traceability compatible with the GDST is crucial for tuna supply chains. Educating suppliers on key data elements (KDEs) and critical tracking events (CTEs) is essential for shared first-mile data analysis.
Q: What drew you to join GTA’s Partner Advisory Group and what impact do you hope to make on the direction of the GTA?
A: I was inspired to join the Partner Advisory Group due to the remarkable advocacy work carried out by GTA in the global tuna industry and its alignment with Culimer USA’s sustainability goals. Culimer USA is deeply committed to conserving the natural environment, preventing resource depletion, and upholding labor rights throughout our supply chains and within our company.
I am eager to contribute to the Partner Advisory Group and leverage my experience and knowledge in traceability, food safety, CSR, and ESG to help us achieve our collective goals.
Q: What is your favorite dish or snack that contains tuna?
A: Any type of tuna sushi or sashimi dish. My all time favorite is MSC Certified BlueFin tuna.
Want to learn more about Culimer’s incredible work? Visit their website: https://culimerusa.com/