Baltimore, MD – Phillips Foods & Seafood Restaurants announce that effective May 1st, Ed Rhodes will move into the newly created position of Vice President for Sustainability and Aquaculture Development. Rhodes has been with Phillips for four years as co-director of the aquaculture and sustainability division. The new role highlights the increasing importance of sustainability as part of the core business.
Rhodes will guide efforts in a number of sustainability areas. A main focus will continue to be programs in Asia to improve the fisheries for the blue swimming crab which is the mainstay of products used for the company’s foodservice, retail and restaurants divisions. Rhodes chairs the NFI Crab Council that is a cooperative effort among the leading crab importers. The Council funds fisheries improvement projects in the source countries and Council members recently agreed to a minimum purchase size for crabs that will go into effect in July.
“Addressing seafood sustainability is not only the right thing to do, it’s also good business” said company President and CEO Steve Phillips in making the announcement. “We’ve been at the forefront of sustainability in our industry, and it was time to recognize its importance with a more senior position for Ed Rhodes.”
In addition to the work with crab fisheries, Rhodes also heads up the Phillips Team responsible for evaluating the sustainability status of other seafood in the Phillips lineup. He leads company efforts to monitor and reduce energy and water use in the 17 seafood plants Phillips operates around the world. As Vice President, Rhodes will oversee aquaculture development for the company. “Much of our future supply of seafood is going to come from aquaculture” stated Rhodes. “We already have a medium-sized farm for barramundi in Indonesia, but we know it is important to continue finding opportunities to build sustainable aquaculture”.
Rhodes has worked in aquaculture and fisheries, both on the research side and in commercial production for over 40 years. Much of the research was with NOAA Fisheries, and he was NOAA’s aquaculture coordinator from 1997 to 2001. Prior to coming to Phillips in 2007, Ed was the executive director of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association.
About Phillips Foods
Phillips Seafood Restaurants and Phillips Foods, Inc. is a family-owned business founded in 1956 with headquarters in Baltimore, and is the leading importer and distributor of crab meat and other crab products in the U.S. The company has additional lines of seafood items for both retail and foodservice customers as well as company owned restaurants. Owning and operating crab plants and seafood restaurants for over 90 years has placed Phillips in a unique niche in the food and restaurant world. Phillips Foods is making seafood a bigger part of life by producing and distributing the highest quality and most delicious seafood products on the market today. To find out more information about Phillips, call 1.888.234.CRAB or visit www.phillipsfoodservice.com .
Source: Phillips Foods