Great Value Seafood
Harm on record. Has recent confirmed harm to workers that it hasn't put right.
Last researched 30 October 2026 · 9 sources
Walmart's own-label seafood range: frozen shrimp, fish and canned tuna.
In 2023, a supplier of Great Value Seafood's owner's private-label seafood was linked to Chinese plants accused of using Uyghur forced labour.
Also worth knowing
Great Value Seafood didn't act on it.
Other frozen fish and seafood brands
Nothing we've rated in frozen fish and seafood is better than Lacks transparency yet.
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Why it's graded Harm on record
- Not met: Meets 0 of 6 Good requirements.
- Holds the grade back: It has 4 red flags: no evidence of a living wage, a hidden, unaudited supply chain in high-risk countries, forced or child labour and fish and seafood it can't trace to the boat or farm. Two or more red flags means a poor grade.
- Holds the grade back: It's Harm on record because of a serious confirmed problem from the last 5 years that it didn't act on: forced labour link, last recorded in 2023.
Good requirements 0 of 6
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
- Not met: Respects worker rightsMost of its products are made in countries such as India and Thailand, where unions are heavily restricted, and it has no full supply chain audit.
- Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- Not met: No child or forced labour findings or links
- Not met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that list
- Not met: Traces its catch to the boat or farm and has crews' or farm workers' conditions checked independently
Red flags 4
- Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
- Red flag: Hidden supply chain, mostly in countries with poor worker rights
- Red flag: Forced, slave or child labour found in or linked to its supply chain
- Red flag: Relies on fish and seafood it can't trace to the boat or farmShown to explain the grade. It isn't one of the 3 red flags that set it.
- Red flag: Fails its category's raw-material check (means Lacks transparency)
Stars it would earn as Good
None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Where it's made
From press and retailer reports; Great Value Seafood doesn't say where its products are made. The rest is shown as where fish and seafood are usually processed.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | High |
| ThailandUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| ChinaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| VietnamUsual for the industry | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| IndonesiaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| AustraliaUsual for the industry | Strong protections | About a living wage | Low |
| EcuadorUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| NorwayUsual for the industry | Strong protections | About a living wage | Low |
Evidence
What we found
- Risk across the industry, not a finding about this company: fishing fleets and processing plants have some of the worst documented forced labour, including trafficked crews held at sea for years.
- Relies on fish and seafood from fishing boats and farms, where crews and farm workers, often migrants recruited into debt, have been held for months or years, beaten and denied pay, out of reach of factory audits. It hasn't shown any steps to trace its fish and seafood to the boat or farm or have the conditions of the people who catch or farm it checked, so it's graded Lacks transparency until it does.
Research notes Walmart does not publish where its Great Value seafood is processed or which boats and farms supply it, and its product pages give no country of origin; India rests on Outlaw Ocean's finding that Choice Canning supplied shrimp sold under Great Value and Sam's Choice. Some Great Value shrimp is BAP 4-star certified, and since 2020 its canned tuna must come from MSC-certified fisheries or those working towards it. Walmart approved BAP to monitor seafood suppliers' social compliance in 2017. SeaChoice scored Walmart Canada 27% (F) on human rights in 2025 and found no evidence of audits at boat or farm level.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Listed | Shrimp from India was added to the US Department of Labor's 2024 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. View |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Listed | Walmart responded on 23 October 2023 to a request about Uyghur forced labour and migrant worker abuse in seafood supply chains. View |
Confirmed issues 3
Only confirmed problems are listed, and old ones drop off after 10 to 15 years. A problem the company has fully put right no longer counts against it, and nor does one it finds and is fixing itself. How problems are counted
| Last recorded | What happened | Made amends? |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | The Outlaw Ocean Project reported in 2024 that about 70 workers at Choice Canning's shrimp plant in Andhra Pradesh, India, which supplied shrimp sold as Great Value, marched to police in January 2024 over about 215,950 rupees in wages withheld by a labour contractor. Source · archived copy | PartlyAfter workers went to the police, the labour contractor repaid about 135,000 of 215,950 rupees owed; Walmart said it was looking into the allegations. |
| 2023 | Link through a supplierSeaChoice reported in 2025 that Walmart Canada was implicated in the Outlaw Ocean Project's 2023 China series, including through Premier Marine Canada, a supplier of its private-label seafood, which Outlaw Ocean linked to Chinese plants alleged to use Uyghur forced labour. Source · search the archive | NoWalmart said its commitment to human rights is non-negotiable; SeaChoice found no public report of remediation. |
| 2015 | Link through a supplierA 2015 Associated Press investigation found, from US customs records, that shrimp peeled by modern-day slaves in Thailand entered the supply chains of Walmart and other major US retailers (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 2015). Source · search the archive | PartlyWalmart later approved BAP certification to monitor seafood suppliers' social compliance and takes part in the Seafood Task Force; no remedy for workers reported. |
Unconfirmed reports
Credible reports that haven't been confirmed by a regulator, completed investigation or the company. They're shown for your information and don't affect the grade.
- A former manager of Choice Canning's Amalapuram plant alleged in 2024 that workers were underpaid, kept under curfews and gate passes and housed in poor conditions; Choice Canning denies the allegations and says its plant passed labour audits (Outlaw Ocean Project, 2024). Source
- SeaChoice reported in 2025 that Walmart Canada was also implicated in the Corporate Accountability Lab's report on labour abuses in Indian shrimp supply chains and had not publicly reported any remediation (SeaChoice, 2025). Source
Sources and actions
Sources 9
Show all 9 sources
- Indian shrimp rife with bondage, hazards and stolen wages (Outlaw Ocean Project, 2024) · archived copy · Choice Canning plant in Amalapuram, India; January 2024 wage dispute and partial repayment; whistleblower allegations denied by the company
- Walmart (Sam's Club) stakeholder page (Outlaw Ocean Project) · search the archive · Trade data and documents show Choice Canning supplied shrimp under Great Value and Sam's Choice; Walmart said it was looking into the allegations
- AP: Global supermarkets selling shrimp peeled by slaves (BHRRC, 2015) · search the archive · US customs records show slave-peeled Thai shrimp entered Walmart supply chains
- Walmart response to Uyghur forced labour & migrant worker abuse in seafood supply chains (BHRRC, 2023) · search the archive · Walmart response dated 23 October 2023
- Indian shrimp added to US list of goods likely made with forced labor (SeafoodSource, 2024) · search the archive · US DOL added Indian shrimp to its 2024 child and forced labour list
- Walmart backs BAP for its social and labor monitoring (SeafoodSource, 2017) · search the archive · BAP approved in 2017 as the only seafood scheme for monitoring supplier social compliance
- Seafood Progress Retailer Profile: Walmart Canada (SeaChoice, 2025) · search the archive · Human rights 27% (F); Great Value among private labels; implicated in Outlaw Ocean China series via Premier Marine Canada and in CAL India report; no public remediation
- Walmart moves to MSC-certified store-brand canned tuna (Supermarket News, 2020) · search the archive · Great Value canned tuna from MSC-certified suppliers or those working towards certification from July 2020
Published by Great Value Seafood or its owner
- Great Value Frozen Raw Small Peeled & Deveined Shrimp (Walmart) · search the archive · Great Value shrimp product listed as BAP 4-star certified; no country of origin given
Company details
- Owned by
- Walmart Inc.
- Headquarters
- United States
- Last researched
- 30 October 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Great Value Seafood ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/great-value-seafood, last researched 30 October 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Harm on record means
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Great Value Seafood.