SAN ANTONIO — H-E-B is scaling up its long-running efforts around responsible seafood sourcing through a new collaboration with celebrity chefs Andrew Zimmern and Barton Seaver, along with a strengthened partnership with sustainable seafood nonprofit Fishwise.
As part of the initiative, H-E-B hosted a series of talks, tastings, and book-signing events with Zimmern and Seaver to spotlight sustainable cooking practices and promote the chefs’ new release, The Blue Food Cookbook. The retailer staged events at Central Market stores in Houston and Austin, as well as at its newly opened Jordan Ranch H-E-B and Lake Austin H-E-B locations. The cookbook is now available at more than 200 H-E-B stores across Texas, while supplies last.
“H-E-B is honored to work alongside chefs Andrew and Barton, two esteemed voices in the culinary world who share our commitment to seafood sustainability,” said Jason Driskill, H-E-B’s vice president of seafood. “This collaboration allows us to share creative ways to prepare nutritious recipes while amplifying the importance of responsibly sourced seafood that preserves our environment.”
Zimmern — an Emmy winner and four-time James Beard Award recipient — and Seaver, a leading seafood-sustainability expert and chef, created the cookbook as a guide to preparing “blue foods” in ways that support the health of oceans and waterways.
Strengthening standards with Fishwise
H-E-B’s latest sustainability update centers on a renewed strategic partnership with Fishwise, a nonprofit focused on strengthening the social, environmental, and traceability standards of the seafood industry. The retailer said its enhanced policy expands efforts to source certified wild-caught and farmed seafood, improve supply-chain transparency, protect ocean ecosystems, and reinforce human-rights protections throughout its tuna supply chain.
H-E-B is also the largest retail buyer of Gulf seafood in Texas, a practice the company says reinforces its commitment to local fishing communities and the broader “Our Texas, Our Future” environmental initiative.
Broader sustainability record
The company emphasized its wider initiatives to cut waste and protect natural resources, mentioning that it diverted over 638 million pounds of waste from landfills last year through recycling efforts — which included over 20 million pounds of plastic collected from stores and customer recycling bins.
H-E-B said it will continue to evolve its seafood policies in partnership with organizations like Fishwise to uphold industry-leading sustainability standards.
With more than 455 stores in Texas and Mexico and annual sales topping $50 billion, H-E-B marks its 120th anniversary this year, emphasizing a legacy of community commitment, sustainability, and responsible sourcing.
