First Time Annual Award Has Been Presented to a Restaurant Chain in Recognition of its Ongoing Commitment to Source, Serve and Promote Sustainable Species
VANCOUVER, BC (April 25, 2019) — Beloved BC institution White Spot became the first restaurant chain to be honoured with the Ocean Wise® Sustainable Seafood Award at the 2019 Where To Dine Vancouver Awards that were held yesterday at Parq Vancouver. The award is presented annually to a restaurant that best exemplifies practices of sourcing, serving and promoting sustainable species outlined under the Ocean Wise Seafood program.
“Since becoming an Ocean Wise partner in 2017, White Spot has tackled the issue head on and has become a champion of sustainable seafood,” said Sophika Kostyniuk, manager of the Ocean Wise Seafood program. “As one of Canada’s largest restaurant chains, it has enormous impact raising awareness about protecting our oceans for future generations. We are very impressed with their commitment to creating positive change.”
While many of White Spot’s core menu selections were already ocean-friendly, the chain officially joined the Ocean Wise Seafood program in 2017 and introduced its Ocean Wise menu to locations across BC and Alberta. Today, the chain counts more than a dozen Ocean Wise dishes on its core menu at its restaurants and Triple O’s locations including its signature clam chowder, chargrilled salmon and seafood trio, West Coast salmon burger and the Spot’s Fish & Chips.
“It’s an honour to accept this award on behalf of White Spot and we sincerely thank Ocean Wise for this recognition,” said White Spot Director of Supply Management Jennifer Martin, accepting the award in front of the standing-room-only crowd of the local hospitality industry’s best and brightest. “This initiative evolved from our ongoing commitment to the environment and sustainability and thanks to the vision of our leadership, culinary team and support of our vendors, we have been able to make this possible.”
As part of the ‘four pillars’ of its overall food philosophy, White Spot regularly works with supply chain partners, stakeholders and advisers in order to ensure it is adhering to its own mandates regarding issues surrounding animal welfare, the environment and sustainability, food safety, and health and nutrition.
“White Spot buys more fresh, locally grown and responsibly procured ingredients than any other company in BC,” says White Spot Executive Chef Danny Markowicz. “Every one of our dishes starts with us incorporating ingredients that are handled with care to ensure we are doing what we can to preserve our environment for future generations.”
White Spot recently reaffirmed its commitment to those core principles by introducing the 100%-plant-based Beyond Burger® patty to its menu of signature burgers and entrées at all full-service White Spot restaurants in BC and Alberta, with its quick-service brand Triple O’s to follow suit on Monday, May 6. Other environmentally friendly measures undertaken by the chain include eliminating plastic straws and using paper packaging that is 100% recyclable, compostable and biodegradable.
ABOUT WHITE SPOT RESTAURANTS | Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, White Spot is Canada’s longest-running restaurant chain, celebrating their 90th year. Founded in 1928, when Nat Bailey launched Canada’s first drive-in restaurant at Granville and 67th, the 90-year-young chain now sees more than 17 million guests annually at 133 White Spot and Triple O’s locations throughout B.C., Alberta and Asia. Bailey’s original vision was to build a restaurant that served the highest quality, unique tasting food and White Spot remains committed to continuing this tradition in each and every meal. White Spot Limited is proud to be recognized with the platinum status designation as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, one of Canada’s top 150 iconic brands as awarded by Interbrand Canada, and a member of Forbes list of Top Employers of Canada. | whitespot.ca
Twitter: @White_Spot | Facebook: /whitespot | Instagram: @whitespot_restaurants
ABOUT THE OCEAN WISE® SEAFOOD PROGRAM | Overfishing is a major threat to our oceans. With thousands of Ocean Wise seafood partner locations across Canada, Ocean Wise makes it easy for consumers to choose sustainable seafood for the long-term health of our oceans. The Ocean Wise symbol next to a seafood item is the Ocean Wise assurance of an ocean-friendly seafood choice. | www.ocean.org/seafood
Twitter: @OceanWiseLife | Facebook: /oceanwiselife | Instagram: @oceanwiselife
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