Bantianyao Is Latest Chinese Restaurant Chain To Endorse Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP)

The Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) is pleased to announce that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bantianyao whereby the Chinese restaurant chain has pledged to incorporate the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) third-party certification program into its responsible seafood sourcing policy.

The BAP program continues to make inroads in the Chinese market, with a total of 33 retail and foodservice companies in China committed to sourcing BAP seafood.

As part of the MoU, Bantianyao has pledged to add BAP seafood to its preferential procurement list. Already, 100 percent of the catfish and pangasius that it sources originates from BAP-certified processing plants and farms. To ensure the stability of its seafood supply chain, Bantianyao requires that processing plants source from its own farms, which matches up with the BAP two-star concept; in the BAP program, two stars represents product originating from BAP-certified processing plants and farms.

“The first half of 2020 has been incredibly challenging for the entire food supply chain, especially restaurants,” said GAA Vice President Asia Market Development Steve Hart. “It is times like these that make the importance of responsible seafood sourcing policies even more important, as leading business owners are wanting assurances that their supply chains are adhering to strict standards. It is this commitment by Bantianyao that has brought them success in the Chinese market and makes us very excited to be working with them.”

Founded in 2018, Bantianyao now has more than 200 restaurants across the country. Bantianyao started out buying live fish from local wholesale markets and processing and handling the fish themselves.

BAP is the world’s largest and most comprehensive third-party aquaculture certification program, with standards encompassing environmental responsibility, social accountability, food safety, and animal health and welfare. Through March, there were 2,344 BAP-certified processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills worldwide.

About BAP
A division of the Global Aquaculture Alliance, Best Aquaculture Practices is an international certification program based on achievable, science-based and continuously improved performance standards for the entire aquaculture production chain – including processing plants, farms, hatcheries and feed mills. BAP standards cover environmental responsibility, social accountability, food safety and animal welfare. The BAP program is based on independent audits that evaluate compliance with the BAP standards developed by GAA.