De Costi Seafoods

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Owned	AUS
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Seafood

Operates both retail and wholesale seafood operations, and 3 processing sites, sourcing seafood from Australia, New Zealand and the Asia Pacific region. Acquired by Tassal in 2015.

Company Ownership


De Costi Seafoods (Holdings) Pty Ltd	AUS	website	email
Tassal Group Ltd owns 100% of De Costi Seafoods (Holdings) Pty Ltd	AUS	website	email
Atlantic salmon producer and exporter Tassal operates 3 salmon hatcheries, 6 marine regions and 3 processing facilities, all in Tasmania, producing 16,000 tonnes of salmon per year.

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De Costi Seafoods (Holdings) Pty Ltd

Possible $1m backpay bill

This company may have to fork out $1 million in backpay to its workers after the Australian Workers' Union won a case lodged with the Federal Court. The AWU had accused Tassal of not paying penalty rates for two members whose shifts started before 6am. The AWU also reported that it believes about 50 current workers and hundreds of former employees have been badly paid more than a million dollars during the past six years.
Source: Inside FMCG (2022)

MSC certified products

This company sells products which are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council.
Source: MSC (2022)

Tassal Group Ltd

Aquaculture Stewardship Council certification

This company has achieved Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification for all of their salmon farming operations. Tassal worked with WWF since 2012 to develop their responsible aquaculture production to meet the requirements of the ASC Salmon Standard. However Environment Tasmania has expressed a number of concerns about WWF's certification scheme. (www.et.org.au/salmon_faqs)
Source: ASC (2020)

3/5 for packaging performance

This company received a packaging performance level of 3 (Advanced) in its 2022 APCO Annual Report. Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) is a not-for-profit organisation leading the development of a circular economy for packaging in Australia. Each year, APCO Members are required to submit an APCO Annual Report and Action Plan, which includes an overall performance level from 1 (Getting Started) to 5 (Beyond Best Practice).
Source: APCO (2022)

Salmon farming criticism

Booker Prize-winning author Richard Flanagan's 2021 book "Toxic: The Rotting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry" produces a range of allegations against the Tasmanian salmon sector - relating to feed ingredients, pollution and political skullduggery. These include the use of poultry by-products in feed, as well as the addition of ethoxyquin, which he says is potentially carcinogenic, to stabilise the feed.
Source: The Fish Site (2021)

'Say No' rating at GoodFish

Tassal operate salmon farms in Tasmania. GoodFish, Australia's Sustainable Seafood Guide recommends you 'say no' to farmed Atlantic salmon (Red rating). It's website states: produced in sea cages; carnivorous species that is dependent on wild caught fish that is manufactured into fish feed. While the amount of wild caught fish in feed has been reduced over recent years, the amount of wild-caught fish used in feed is currently more than the weight of salmon produced; localised impacts from salmon farming effluent are minor and short-lived; impacts of the industry on a broader ecological scale are less well understood; producers have reduced the use of antibiotics.
Source: GoodFish (2020)

15/100 S&P Global ESG Score

This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 15/100 in the Food Products category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 7 Feb 2021). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2021)

Salmon farming concerns

Fish farms maintained by this company in Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania are causing dire environmental and fish health impacts. Environmental problems with salmon farming in the area include nutrient pollution and dead zones, use of 1.7kg of wild fish to produce 1kg of farmed salmon, overcrowded sea cages, minimal monitoring and marine debris. Leaked documents tabled by the Greens reveal repeated breaches of licence conditions by this company, disease outbreaks and pollution.
Source: ABC (2015)

Four Corners: Big Fish

ABC's Four Corners investigates the business of Tasmanian salmon production, including intensive farming, chemical colouring, salmon under stress and pristine waterways suffering. Also raised Tassal's payments to WWF-Australia and to an independent auditor to achieve ASC certification of Tassal's production process. (Oct 2016)
Source: Four Corners (2016)

Sustainability Award 2015

In 2015 this company won an Australian Business Award for Sustainability, which recognises organisations that execute initiatives that demonstrate leadership and commitment to sustainable business practices.
Source: Australian Business Awards (2015)

Best Aquaculture Practices certified

This companies has facilities which meet the Best Aquaculture Practices standards.
Source: BAP (2021)

Sustainability claims

This company has a number of sustainability claims on its website, including efforts in the areas of third-party certifications, transparency and community support.
Source: company website (2021)

Sustainable Aquaculture partnership with WWF

From 2012 to 2018, WWF worked with Tassal to offer expert advice on its sustainability strategy and guided the company on its commitments to standards of sustainable practice. Under the guidance of WWF, Tassal became the first salmon company in Australia to achieve Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification for a farm site, and the first company globally to achieve this standard across its operations in 2014.
Source: WWF Australia (2018)

Sustainable Agriculture Initiative member

This company is a member of the Australian chapter of the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform, the main food industry initiative supporting the development of sustainable agriculture worldwide. Created by Nestle, Unilever and Danone in 2002, the SAI Platform is a non-profit organization to facilitate sharing, at precompetitive level, of knowledge and initiatives to support the development and implementation of sustainable agriculture practices involving the different stakeholders of the food chain.
Source: SAI Platform Australia (2019)

How green and clean is Tasmanian salmon?

Transcript from the ABC's 7:30 Report (2009). Issues raised include use of antibiotics, damage to marine environment, use of 4kg of wild fish to produce 1kg of farmed salmon, being called the "battery hens of the sea". Please note however that reliance of wild caught fish has reduced in recent years.
Source: ABC (2009)

Farm Transparency Project profile

The Farm Transparency Project Repository is a public repository/gallery for videos, photos, documents and campaign materials relating to the animal rights movement in Australia. Follow the link to see their profile on this company.
Source: Farm Transparency Project (2022)

No tax paid in 2019-20

According to data released by the Australian Tax Office in Jan 2022, this company was one of many local and foreign-based companies that paid no tax in Australia in 2019-20. Please note however that companies pay income tax on profits, not revenue (total income). While some companies use tax havens and loopholes to avoid paying their fair share of tax in Australia, other companies that paid no tax have perfectly legitimate reasons.
Source: ATO (2022)

FAIRR Protein Producer Index

The Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index is a comprehensive assessment of how this sector is managing critical sustainability risks factors: GHGs; deforestation and biodiversity; water scarcity; water pollution; antibiotics; animal welfare; working conditions; food safety. This company was rated as medium risk.
Source: FAIRR (2021)

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Company Details

Revenue	56 million AUD (2008)
Employees	65 (2008)

Contact Details

Address	29 Bachell Ave, Lidcombe , NSW, 2141, Australia
Phone	02 9649 7699
Email	info@decosti.com.au
Website	www.decosti.com.au

De Costi Seafoods

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