Just weeks after acquiring organic ice cream brand KISSYO, followfood, the world’s most sustainable food brand, continues to expand. The inventor of the tracking code for disclosing supply chains and suppliers is taking a majority stake in Blueyou, one of the world’s leading consulting and trading companies for sustainable fishing and aquaculture. Headquartered in Zurich, the company has made a name for itself in the field of seafood products produced in an ecologically and socially responsible manner. followfood and Blueyou have already collaborated several times in the past, for example on the launch of the first fair trade tuna in Europe. The management and the team working at six locations worldwide remain completely on board. followfood benefits from the scientific know-how and the unique network of Blueyou and thus expands its competence far beyond trading with sustainable products. followfood made a turnover of more than 73 million euros in 2020. Recently, followfood was ranked 7th in the ranking of the most innovative medium-sized companies by the magazine Wirtschaftswoche and the consultancy Munich Strategy.
The company from Lake Constance has already proven many times that followfood is always breaking new and unconventional ground as a retailer for over 90 sustainable food products. With the majority shareholding of 56.9% in Blueyou, followfood is expanding its own service portfolio by several dimensions. Through Blueyou, followfood can make its own supply chain even more sustainable and transparent with the help of the service company’s scientific expertise and decisively expand its competence in the field of sustainable fishing and aquaculture. In addition, followfood gains access to international lighthouse projects, new networks and thus the opportunity to decisively expand its product range.
Blueyou was founded in Zurich in 2004. Since then, the company has worked closely with producers in key source countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to develop solutions for improved marine conservation and to optimize production conditions, market access and value creation for local producers. In doing so, the Blueyou Group combines expert advice, the development and verification of transparent supply chains with small-scale producers in the countries of origin, and the trade of sustainable seafood products. Blueyou made a turnover of almost 20 million euros in 2021. followfood worked closely with Blueyou, for example, on the launch of the first fair trade tuna in Europe. On the scientific side, Blueyou supported followfood in developing what are probably the most sustainable fishing guidelines in the world. The company is particularly committed to developing sustainable solutions for small independent fisheries worldwide. This is because almost 80% of small-scale coastal fisheries are not certified.
„We believe that in the future it will be crucial how well a company knows its supply chain and can manage it from a qualitative and ethical perspective. By acquiring a majority stake in Blueyou, we are acquiring great scientific know-how and access to the world’s most sustainable fisheries, aquacultures and attractive lighthouse projects. With Blueyou, we are in an unbeatable position because we can demonstrably make the entire supply chain sustainable. No other food retailer can do that. We couldn’t have asked for a better development,“ comments Jürg Knoll, co-founder and managing director of followfood.
„Working closely with followfood is a real milestone in driving our programs and projects with coastal fisheries and small-scale producers in developing countries even further. Past collaboration has shown us how serious followfood is about socially responsible sustainability in the seafood sector. By joining forces, we can achieve much more, make supply chains even more transparent, and greatly expand the production of Fair Trade certified seafood products. Sustainably produced seafood will have to play a paramount role in feeding eight billion people. We are very much looking forward to working together“, says René Benguerel, CEO and co-founder of Blueyou.
followfood has been growing at double-digit rates for years. In addition to the tracking code, the innovations that changed the industry include canned tuna caught by hand fishing, the introduction of the first fair trade tuna in Europe, the establishment of the Soil Saving Fund to promote regenerative agriculture, and the expansion of the tracking code to include life cycle assessment. Since the end of 2021, followfood has been the official nutrition partner of FC St. Pauli. In 2022, the company is planning a series of new launches for Biofach in July.
Source: Followfood