Iceland and Birds Eye among firms selling Russian fish ‘funding Putin’s war machine’

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1. Major UK supermarkets and food companies are selling products containing [Russian fish](https://inews.co.uk/topic/fishing?ico=in-line_link) despite concerns the trade indirectly helps bolster the [Kremlin’s war machine](https://inews.co.uk/topic/russia?ico=in-line_link) against Ukraine, it can be revealed.

   An investigation by *The i Pape*r has established leading processors such as UK-based Nomad Foods, owner of the Birds Eye brand, and retailers including Iceland and [Lidl](https://inews.co.uk/topic/lidl?ico=in-line_link) are continuing to source Russian fish – or have approved its supply – as manufacturers and stores struggle to find alternatives to Russian’s dominance of the whitefish trade.

   Several UK supermarkets, including [Tesco](https://inews.co.uk/topic/tesco?ico=in-line_link), Sainsbury’s and [Waitrose](https://inews.co.uk/topic/waitrose?ico=in-line_link) and Co-op, insist they have eliminated all direct purchases of Russian-origin fish since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

   But supply-chain data obtained by *The i Paper* show major fish-processing companies supplying the UK food market and supermarkets are continuing to trade Russian-origin products such as cod, [haddock](https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/food-and-drink/british-shoppers-choosing-fishings-big-five-species-uk-waters-989057?ico=in-line_link#), pollock and wild-caught salmon.

   [Iceland](https://inews.co.uk/news/consumer/iceland-palm-oil-supermarket-cool-again-223504?ico=in-line_link), uses Russian-origin fish as a source for some of its own-label Iceland Haddock Fillets. The supermarket said more needed to be done at a “global supply-chain level” to reduce the amount of Russian-origin fish reaching the UK.

   Separate transparency data declared by Lidl show in 2024 the German-owned supermarket approved sourcing Russian-origin cod, haddock, salmon and pollock from four of its most trusted suppliers, although it is not clear how much of that fish reached its shelves.

   Most retailers do not publish such data and it is believed at least three other UK supermarket chains have sourced or agreed to source fish from Russian-controlled fisheries in the past 12 months.

   When approached for comment, several retailers, including Lidl, deferred to the British Retail Consortium trade body, which said a “global response” was needed to improve the traceablity of seafood.

   # Russian fish used by well-known brands

   [*The i Paper* ](https://inews.co.uk/news/how-your-fish-and-chips-could-be-funding-putins-war-3595716?ico=in-line_link)revealed in March that thousands of tonnes of Russian-origin fish, worth an estimated £100m, is entering the UK food chain via locations including the Netherlands and China despite Western countries’ insistence that they want to limit Moscow’s access to their markets.

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