Tesco - ever get the feeling you're being fobbed off?

OK, so after only 12 days Tesco actually send a response form their 'customer service' department. If you've e-mailed them about this issue already then I'm sure that you will have received the same one, you know.....

Dear Michael,

Thank you for your email. I can confirm like many other retailers in Thailand, Tesco sells shark fin in its stores as our customers expect to be able to buy it.

We know that we need to balance different cultural attitudes, in this case respecting the different traditions and values on this issue that exist in Thailand with the very important issue of sustainability and welfare. This is why we will conduct a review and take expert advice to ensure that we source shark in the most sustainable way possible.

Thank you for contacting us.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us at customer.service@tesco.co.uk quoting TES5624003X.

Kind Regards

Wayne Hansen

Customer Service Manager

Tesco Customer Service

I've been passed on this same response form many people (thanks for the FYI's) and rather amusingly they're all from Customer Service 'Managers'. It's true, people really do prefer a title over a good salary and job satisfaction.

Personally, I've mailed Tesco a response stating that I'm unhappy with their stance on this issue and have asked them to pass me on more information on how exactly they're likely to find sustainable shark fin. I'll post here in at least a fortnight to let you know.....

Mik.

Finally a response from Tesco!!

It took around 4 days, pressure from various organisations (especially the Shark Trust, thanks Ali), and what I presume was quite a large volume of e-mails from around the world but hopefully we're getting somewhere. On Friday, Tesco UK finally got themselves in to gear and released the following statement...

"We do not stock shark or shark derived products in the UK in accordance with our UK Fish Sustainability Policy.

We have become aware that such products are stocked in Tesco stores overseas, namely Thailand.

We have communication from Board level to delist threatened species and that we must develop a sustainability strategy for the rest of global shark sales.

As a consequence we would like to invite representatives from the Shark Trust to engage in dialogue on this matter."

It's a really big move as far as I'm concerned, but at the same time, until the fins are removed from sale we have to keep pushing. There is also an article on the Daily Telegraph website regarding the issue (if anyone in the UK reads the paper version, please let me know if it's in there too) that can be seen at...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/10/10/eashark110.xml

Also, DIVE Magazine have informed me that they will be running a Bite Back article on this in next months (December) issue of the magazine.

Keep your eyes open for more updates, and keep pushing.

Mik.

No response from Tesco? Try their boss

If, like me, you have received nothing but an automated response to your e-mail to Tesco regarding the sales of Shark Fin in Asia you may be feeling as frustrated as me. If so, why not mail their CEO

His name is Terry Leahy, and his e-mail address is terry.leahy@uk.tesco.com. While I appreciate that this may not be the address for e-mails that actually arrive on his desk, it should at least arrive in the same building as him, and it will give the poor people on the customer service desk a rest

I've copied a copy of the e-mail I've sent below, if you want to join in the fun again either copy the original mail sent to the customer sevice desk, or even make up your own. After all, variety is the spice of life. And just in case you're living outside the UK and are thinking that Tesco means nothing to you think again. They have stores in China, The Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Slovakia, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Turkey, and the USA (where they are known as 'Fresh and Easy'). Feel free to write to their domestic head offices.

Also, if anyone living outside Thailand findes themselves in a Tesco store please take a look for shark fin. If you find it, please let me know and send a picture if possible.

OK, and to Terry's new e-mail

Dear Mr Leahy,

On Tuesday October the 7th I e-mailed your customer service department in the UK with the e-mail that you can read below. Unfortunately it seems to have got lost in your system and so I have contacted every person I know (who seems to have contacted every person they know), as well as several organisations who spend their days and nights campaigning againsts the issue it refers to (these include among others The Shark Trust, WWF, Greenpeace, and WildAid). I refuse to believe that all of these peoples e-mails have also gone amiss, and yet we are all struggling for some kind of response.

Somehow I also seem to have managed to contact several dive magazines (including Diver whom I believe advertise you on their website), several national newspapers in the UK as well as PADI, SSI, Project Aware and several other world wide organisations that are commited to the survival of sharks in our oceans.

I understand that things do not happen overnight, but I was expecting at least some kind of polite response that you may have been looking into the issue, even if you were actually sat at your desk picking your nose. In light of your lack of response I can only assume that the fact that a 90% decline of sharks in the ocean, primarily due to shark finning, means nothing to you when compared to profits that your company makes around the world.

Be sure that I have no intention of letting this issue drop until something is done about it. Please remember to read on in order to understand the issue at hand. You can also follow my progress on http://www.mikkylad.blogspot.com/.

Kind regards,

Mik Jennings.

Shark Trust Now Involved in the Tesco Shark Fin Issue

Ok, so things are moving onwards and upwards in the battle to have Tesco remove Shark Fin from their stores. I am still yet to receive any kind of response from the supermarket chain themselves but I now know that they are at least aware of the issue and appear to be showing some concern.

How do I know this? Because of Ali Hood at the Shark Trust in the UK. A few mails have passed backwards and forwards between us and she has informed me that Tesco's senior staff are now aware of the issue and are contacting their Asian counterparts. A response is expected by the end of the day. Keep fingers crossed ladies and gents.

See a short article on the subject on the Shark Trust website (and learn more about these awesome creatures) at...

http://www.sharktrust.org/content.asp?did=31504

Keep trucking,

Mik.

Tesco Update

First off all I'd like to thank everyone who has sent me messages of support in my effort to stop Tesco Lotus in Thailand selling frozen Shark Fin. But as an update...

24 hours after contacting Tesco in the UK I am yet to receive anything other than an automated response that they have received the mail. As you can imagine I'm over the moon that they care so much.

I've received many responses from both here in Phuket and also from other areas from dive schools and organisations that are appalled to find that a UK based supermarket chain who, lets not forget, was recognised as "an Example of Excellence in the Barclays Environmental Leadership category at the Business in the Community Awards for Excellence in July 2008". From these schools and from myself, organisations such as PADI, SSI, the Thailand Diving Association and Project Aware have now informed and will hopefully be adding their weight to my little campaign.

This morning, after finding that Tesco have yet to respond to me (or in fact to anyone I know who has e-mailed them about this issue) I have highlighted the issue to The Times, The Telegraph, The Sun, The Mirror, The Independant, The Express, The Daily Mail, among several others. Hopefully this will at least bring the issue to a wider audience.

Keep you eyes open here for more updates. But before I sign off, maybe it would interest you to know that this is not the first time that Tesco have been highlighted in the news for their lack of morals with regard to sales of 'animal products' in the east. See the link below for their ethics on selling live turtle and tortoises in their stores in China...

http://www.careforthewild.com/news.asp?detail=true&I_ID=583&section=Latest+News

Until next time, keep up the pressure guys. One smal battle at a time.

Mik.

Tesco's support for shark finning, make it stop!!!

Many people who know me will have received this post in e-mail form already, but for anyone who has come via Facebook or some other route read on. This is basically the mail I sent to anyone who's e-mail address I have followed by a mail I sent to Tesco directly....


I'm not in the habit of contacting everyone in my inbox (especially both personal and work) regarding issues, but yesterday I saw something that has spurred my normally (non tree-hugging, non-vegetarian) laid back attitude into life. As such, I would be very grateful if you could read this mail to the end before committing it to your deleted items.


Many thanks in advance,

Mik.


The pictures I have attached to this message were taken in Tesco Phuket (where I live....in Phuket, not Tesco's) on the 6th October 2008 and show, for those who don't open attachments willy nilly, 500g packets of Shark Fin freely available in the freezer cabinet.






Wondering what the big deal is? OK, first thing to do is open the following link and watch to the end so that you can see how shark fin is obtained (and be talked through things by award winning director Ang Lee)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkxoRPv4ugE&feature=related

As you can see, this is not exactly the most humane of processes, and I had to root around a bit to find a relatively tame video!! But before you fin them, you have to catch them, right? The vast majority of sharks are caught by long lining. Now, I'm sure that most of you buy tinned tuna that is 'dolphin friendly', i.e. not caught on long lines, as there was a massive public outcry that the by-catch on these lines (that are generally in excess of 20km in length) such as turtles, dolphins, sea birds and so on was a disgrace. Companies listened, as profits were taking a big hit, and lo and behold tuna is now generally obtained from non-long lining sources. But the long lining continues in order to catch sharks, and so the 'useless by-catch' is still being caught. Oh, and by the way, the lines have to be baited (and 20km+ requires a lot of bait)....but what to use? One of the most common baits is illegally caught dolphin. Getting angry yet?

OK, back to the sharks. Once the sharks are on the long line, one of two things happens. Either they struggle, get caught up in the line and suffocate as they can't move around to move water through their gills, or they get dragged aboard the boat alive, have their fins removed, and are thrown back in the water alive where they sink to the bottom and die. Slowly. At this point you may be wondering a couple of things.

Firstly...why do they throw away the shark? Well, shark meat doesn't store well and is worth comparatively nothing compared to the fins. Also, it takes up lots of space on a fishing boat that could be taken up with lots more valuable shark fin.

Secondly...why the fins? Shark fin soup is a popular (and expensive) Chinese delicacy. It is sold in huge numbers in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Taiwan, Seoul, and Tokyo among many others. In fact, have a look in your local yellow pages and you'll probably find restaurants selling it not too far away from your home, wherever you live. It is often seen as a status symbol but is also popular in Chinese medicine as sharks are seen as strong creatures. Eat the strong creature and become strong yourself. Quite. Interestingly, shark fin is boiled and bleached before use to remove it's natural (apparently unpleasant) taste and so shark fin soup will generally taste of the broth it is cooked in, usually pork or chicken.

Thirdly...is this legal? Well, yes and no. Any country with a coastline is responsible for laws and regulations pertaining to fishing in their waters, and only 17 of these countries have currently outlawed shark finning. Some countries have implemented legislation against it, but they have not outlawed it completely.

But back to Tesco for a moment. It's worth noting here that regardless of the legality of the practice, shark finning is contrary to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) International Plan for the Conservation and Management of Sharks. Here's a quote from Tesco's website for you. "We are playing our part in seeking to maintain a viable and long-term future for wild fish and shellfish populations. We seek to buy all our seafood from responsibly managed fisheries. We use the United Nations' Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries as our sourcing reference." Interesting. Maybe they fell asleep before they got to the bit about sharks.

I could go on and on about this subject all day, and probably through the night and into tomorrow, but I realise that some of you may not be particularly interested so I'll quit while I'm ahead. But that said, please check out the following links and make your own decisions....

http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/
www.sharkwater.com/education.htm (and watch the movie, it's heart-breaking and inspiring in equal measure)
www.bite-back.com/sharks.htm

These were just chosen at random from a myriad of large anti-shark finning organisations.

Want to do something about it? Contact Tesco, their e-mail address is customer.service@tesco.co.uk. I've already mailed them about the issue and am awaiting a response. They also have a 'Corporate Responsibility Team', although these guys may live in the middle ages as they have neither e-mail or a phone number. If you want to write an old fashioned letter (or maybe send a carrier pigeon), their address is...

Corporate Responsibility Team
Tesco PLC
New Tesco House
Delamare Road
Cheshunt
Hertfordshire
England
EN8 9SL

If you're now half and half as to whether to do anything, I've attached a text file to this e-mail (see the mail below for the blog readers). It's a copy of the mail I sent to Tesco and all you have to do is cut and paste it into a new mail and send it to the e-mail address above. Two minutes of your time.

And I have two final things to say. For anyone who has read this and is thinking that sharks are evil tooth filled killing machines, here's a little fact...

Sharks kill on average 5 people every year, which is less than are killed by either soft drinks dispensers or chairs (seriously). It is also significantly less than the 130 people killed by Americas biggest 'man-killer' every year. The deer.

Is it worth the 11000 sharks killed hourly? Please help to stop this abhorrent trade and forward this mail to anyone you think may care.

Many thanks,

Mik.

and now the Tesco mail....

Dear Sir,

It has come to my attention that Tesco in Thailand is selling Shark Fin in the freezer department. As you may or may not be aware, the process of shark finning in the vast majority of cases involves the shark being caught on a long line (a terrible practice in itself) and dragged aboard the fishing boat where it has its fins cut off while alive before being thrown back in the water. If you are in any doubt about the process please go to the link below where Wild Aid and Ang Lee will explain the process…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkxoRPv4ugE&feature=related

I understand that Tesco UK may not be entirely responsible for Tesco in Thailand, but the store is very much under your banner and so representative of you in Asia, where as you will appreciate, there are many non-Asian holiday makers and expatriates who (as you will be aware) are more and more aware of environmental and conservation issues.

On your website you state that "We are playing our part in seeking to maintain a viable and long-term future for wild fish and shellfish populations. We seek to buy all our seafood from responsibly managed fisheries. We use the United Nations' Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries as our sourcing reference."

In response to that quote, shark populations world wide have NO future if finning continues at the current rate, and more importantly shark finning is contrary to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) International Plan for the Conservation and Management of Sharks. Maybe you should read their documentation more thoroughly in the future.

I would like some kind of satisfactory response to this e-mail and would hope that this will lead to the swift removal of shark fin products from the shelves of Tesco Lotus in Thailand. As I know that my solo e-mail is likely to have very little impact I will be passing this on to as many people as I can as well as to all major wild life conservation and anti-shark finning organisations as I can think of in order to exert the pressure required to help in this matter.

Awaiting your response,

The Footy Season Approacheth

So we're nearly there. The beginning of the football season. And to stop anyone from outside Europe getting football confused with lesser sports, we are talking about football. Proper football. The one you play by kicking the ball around with your foot. Not the one where you dress like you're about to get mown down by an articulated lorry and stop every eight seconds for a rest, and certainly not the one where you wear unfeasibly tight shorts, feel all your friends up and have a choice of goals depending how lucky you feel. Football.

Four and a half hours after writing this, the Coca Cola League One (possibly the finest league in the world....ahem) season will be kicking of again. Which means that the finest team in the world (aside from a minor accounting error or two) will be in action. With a 12:00 kick off against Scunthorpe it all begins again. And for one I will be happy to be in Thailand. Now don't get me wrong, I love my team and will be cheering them on whenever possible, although for some reason League One is not shown in Thailand, but it makes me want to cry. When I came to Thailand Leeds were a Premiership side who were just struggling a bit after some rather suspect gambling with the company's accounts had failed to pay off. And now we're in the 3rd league in the country. And to add insult to injury we were kept there artificially last season after being punished for the same crime twice. But now it changes. Leeds for promotion. Mark my words!

There is also another important league starting the following weekend. That's right, the premiership fantasy football league. Mikky's Boys are in there and will be making a bid for glory, even though making substitutes and transfers will be impossible due to living on a boat through most of the season. And I suspect this will be a far messier affair than the one at Elland Road last season.

Yoga - a good idea?

OK, says I (and Kerry), I must get fit. I must lose this layer of protective body cushioning that I'm starting to develop as low season, and a desk job, takes its toll. And maybe the discovery of cheap wine and Beer Lao has assisted in this too. And the Green Man. So what to do? I hate exercise, it bores me. But my chair at work is starting to physically grip me, so standing up is getting harder. It's a vicious cycle!!

So maybe yoga is the answer? It seems perfect, it really does. You read the brochures and it seems to be so simple...you go to a gym, sit around for a while doing some light bending and stretching, smile broadly at your fellow yoga'ists, and lo and behold you have a very trim and very bendy body. I was sold on the idea so after some research, which was really done by Kerry as my chair was really starting to grip me in front of the TV, a gym was found, arrangements were made and away we went.

Let me tell you now, the brochures are wrong!!! Yes you do some sitting, but that is the only part of the advertising that tells the truth. For a whole hour, without moving my feet more than 3 feet from where they started, I was forced into positions that I have never been in before. At one point I swear I have never been happier to have been wearing clothes, because if I wasn't I could have seriously offended my own sensibilities!! After only 5 minutes I was sweating like a one armed Arab with a stolen orange in my pocket. And this didn't stop for 25 minutes, and that was only because I was drier than a box of Bran Flakes. And I definitely wasn't smiling!!

But I was keeping up. I was breathing like a Grand National winning horse, and though keeping the in out rythmn of the instructor was surprisingly difficult for someone who has been breathing for 35 years, I was keeping up. OK, so my knees weren't always straight, and I can't touch my toes with straight legs (and haven't been able to since 1998), but maybe I was going to survive!! But no, just as things were looking up I was asked to stand on one leg, hold my left toe in my left hand and pull it out in front of me......and then to the side. I cannot do this. In fact, I cannot do this so well that another student fell over laughing and the instructor had to hold me up as I was shaking, as Peter Kaye would say, like a shitting dog. But I have no shame and carried bravely on to the end of the session.

I left feeling good, if absolutely knackered!! In fact, so tired that I still can't figure out how I got to be in such state by simply standing, bending, sitting, lying down, and standing on one leg. But the question is, is it any good? Well right now it's hard to say. I'm still stuck in my chair, which you might think was understandable after only one session, but it is less about the handles and more about the fact that I feel as though my hips have been operated on while I was in bed last night. Although the handles are still not helping.

The jury is out, and I'll keep you informed. For now, I'm going home for a cheap red and the Tour de France. I can really feel for those boys now......

2008 Update. Part 1.

Right, I’m trying. So a more detailed update.

I really can’t face telling you everything about the job for the last couple of years, so I’ll tell you how I got here. If you’ve read the stuff below then you’ll know I was working for Calypso Divers in Kata. After almost 2 years of tour leading the lovely Greta I felt it was time to move onwards and upwards, and a great opportunity presented itself to tour lead aboard Colona VI, owned by Colona Liveaboards in Chalong. I was planning two seasons there, at least, as I was really enjoying the job, the diving, and the company, but in August of 2007 an even better opportunity presented itself….

Aquamarine Dive Center in Chalong were looking for 2 people to run their 5* liveaboard MV Philkade. The combination of an awesome boat, the chance to work with Kerry, upping our reputations, and more varied diving was too much. So in a nutshell……we applied, we interviewed, we had new jobs. After a season on the boat and now a low season where we’re working everyday preparing for next season as well as the expansion for the company towards both day tripping and being a ‘complete dive centre’ rather than simply a liveaboard company you could say it was good move!! Yes you could!! And the way things look here is very exciting…could this be something more long term with some kind of career ladder? Watch this space…

The icing on the cake though is the coming season. We announced a trip to the Andaman Islands and have now had to extend it to two trips as a full charter has already confirmed. So next March it’s almost a month in the very very nearly middle of nowhere. And then June 2009 the boat will run low season Lombok to Komodo in Indonesia!! I’m very nearly wetting my pants just writing this.

So that’s where we are. Or at least where I am career-wise.

Coming soon…..home life? friends? family? Who knows…….or even cares.

Stay well people.

Mik.x

The wanderer returns

OK, so I've been gone for a while, figuratively speaking. I appreciate that and apologise profusely. In fairness though, most people I know will have been in touch with me via e-mail or facebook so it doesn't really matter. In fact, I'm not entirely sure who I'm writing this for. Is it therapy? Probably. Who knows?

So. Due to the two years or so of missing information I've decided to write and update you all, whoever you are. There may be several updates over a few weeks if that's what's required. But the question is where to start? New jobs, houses, children (not mine I ought to point out), friends leaving, new friends arriving, friends floating in the water for 19 hours, cyclones, missing cats. It's a long story, so you might want to make a cup of tea before you start reading....

I guess a quick rundown would be the best way to start and then I can do the rest another day, so here we go....

Career: I was working at Calypso as tour leader on Greta. I left there in September of 2006 to work as tour leader on the liveaboard Colona VI. A great time was had by all....well, by me at least! Stayed there for a year and then moved on to work as tour leader on another liveaboard, MV Philkade with Aquamarine divers. Why? An awesome boat that just didn't seem to have the reputation around Phuket that it seemed to deserve. I like a challenge. It gave me a chance to work with Kerry, my girlfriend. New areas to dive. All of those in no particular order.

Home Life: Was living in Kata with Kerry. Moved only a month or so ago to a fancy house in Chalong, still with Kerry. There were three cats as well, but due to some.....shall we say, 'forgetting to look after' incidents by house mates who were only given one task, we now have none. Although we know that one of them is still alive, he just moved out. And I don't blame him. Went to Spain to see my parents and even managed to fit some friends in. Parents came here to see me. Went to England with work and managed to see a little of the place and some old friends.

Friends: Many many people have left Phuket, and most of them I was sorry to say goodbye to. Though not all. Some people have arrived, and I even like a few of them. And still more have left, and then returned......though some returned and then left again. Confused? I know I am. A few have had babies with eachother; an interesting life style choice that remains completely alien to me. We will come back to all of these.

There you go then. A two minute update. Easy.

I'll be back.

Still alive....

And posting again soon.

Possibly.