Sysco, the largest foodservice distributor in the United States, stopped taking delivery of products from Nekkanti Sea Foods this month ahead of the publication of an investigation by the Associated Press into India's shrimp supply chain, the news agency reported.
Sysco halted receipt of products from the Indian company after receiving a request for comment from the Associated Press prior to publication of the article, the news agency reported.
Sysco could not immediately be reached for comment by IntraFish.
In its article, published Wednesday, the Associated Press cited an unnamed Sysco spokesperson as saying the company would begin an immediate investigation.
Sysco “will continue to hold all its suppliers to the highest standards of labor and human rights,” the Associated Press quoted the company as saying in a statement.
The Associated Press investigation, one of three new reports on the Indian shrimp sector published Wednesday, alleged widespread abuse and hazardous working conditions in the Indian shrimp industry.
In its article, the news agency said its reporters witnessed shrimp from a processing shed where “dozens of women” were working in “unsanitary and dangerous conditions” being loaded into a truck bearing the brand ‘NEKKANTI’.
John Ducar, an adviser to the board of Nekkanti Sea Foods, said the company had “no involvement whatsoever” in the processing operations of the business visited by the Associated Press reporters. He said the company had leased 29 of its 68 trucks, which carry the company’s name and logo, to a separate domestic market supplier.
In a letter dated March 16 and addressed to Associated Press reporter Martha Mendoza, shared with IntraFish on Wednesday, Ducar said Nekkanti did not outsource its shrimp processing and that it operated “four state-of-the-art manufacturing plants” with total installed capacity of 76,110 metric tons.
“We explicitly refrain from conducting any business activities in processing sheds throughout India,” Ducar wrote. “We ensure that both women and men are equipped with sufficient safety and hygiene protections in all facilities, which are debt-free and owned by Nekkanti.”
Nekkanti Sea Foods is based in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam, in the eastern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
IntraFish has contacted the company for further comment.
Sysco was one of several companies to suspend business last month with a Chinese seafood processor accused of using forced labor from North Korea. A report published by investigative journalism group The Outlaw Ocean Project showed that between 50 and 70 North Korean workers were present at Dalian Haiqing Food Co. Ltd. as recently as December.
