The world’s leading food companies are lagging behind consumers on farm animal welfare issues

Despite the overall progress made since the first published report in 2012, 40% of companies, including Burger King, Domino’s Pizza Group (UK) and Starbucks provide little or no information on their business operation for farm animal welfare – raising concerns about these companies’ basic welfare standards for animals in their supply chains.

The report in collaboration with World Animal Protection, Compassion in World Farming and investment firm, Coller Capital has been designed to encourage higher farm animal welfare standards across the food industry, covering 90 global food businesses, including major food retailers and wholesalers, restaurants and bars, and food producers.

World Animal Protection actively works with food companies to improve their standards and practices in farm animal welfare. BRF is one such company – they are one of the world’s largest food companies and have made a commitment to improve animal welfare by eliminating the use of cages for the 365,000 sows in its supply chain by 2026. This will allow the animals much more freedom to express normal behaviours. This positive change for animals has certainly contributed to BRF’s improved assessment in the 2015 Benchmark.

Steve McIvor, acting CEO of World Animal Protection said, "Farm animal welfare is riding high on the consumer agenda and we expect far higher standards for animals from the world’s leading food companies.

“With 70 billion animals farmed for food annually, poor animal welfare in industrial farming cannot be ignored. A better life for these animals relies upon global, large-scale changes across the industry.”

Despite the 40% that have published little or no evidence of farm animal welfare being on their current business agenda, it is encouraging to see improvements from other leading food companies:

The proportion of companies with a published farm animal welfare policy has increased from 46% in 2012 to 69% in 2015

The proportion of companies that have published targets for farm animal welfare has increased from 26% in 2012 to 54% in 2015.

Companies currently forging ahead include Marks & Spencer, Coop Group (Switzerland) and Noble Foods (which climbs one place from Tier 2). The companies in Tier 2 that also demonstrate leadership on farm animal welfare practice and reporting are The Co-operative Food (UK), J Sainsbury, Unilever, Cranswick, McDonald’s and Migros, with Marfrig joining the Tier for the first time, climbing one place from Tier 3.

Reflecting on these findings, BBFAW Executive Director, Nicky Amos, said, “The results show that it is realistic for companies across the world to aspire to and achieve high scores in the Benchmark and to recognise the responsibility they hold for the welfare of animals in their supply chains.”

The report highlights the growing influence of global investment companies on farm animal welfare and in particular cites the world’s first investor collaboration on farm animal welfare - convened by BBFAW - which now has 18 investors representing over one trillion pounds in assets under management.

Rory Sullivan, BBFAW expert advisor said, “For the first time we are seeing global investors actively engage with companies to encourage them to improve their practices and reporting on farm animal welfare. The annual Benchmark provides a strong incentive for companies to improve their disclosure and account for their performance. As we build investor awareness and understanding of farm animal welfare, we expect to see investor interest and, critically, action, increase over time.”

Ends

Notes to editors:

1. For further information and images, please contact: Kai Akram: 0777 2296 256 / 07939 029 006 or e-mail: kaiakram@worldanimalprotection.org
2. The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) – now in its fourth year – has been designed to encourage higher farm animal welfare standards across the food industry. Read the full report here.
3. The Benchmark is the first global measure of farm animal welfare management, policy commitment and disclosure in food companies and is designed for use by investors, companies, NGOs and other stakeholders interested in understanding the relative performance of food companies in this area. More information on the programme can be found at www.bbfaw.com.
4. The company-by-company results are presented in Attachment 1 - email Kai Akram for a copy. 
5. In total, 90 companies were included in the 2014 assessment; 10 more than last year. The companies represent three primary food business sectors: (a) food retailers and wholesalers; (b) restaurants and bars (a category that includes many of the food service providers), and (c) food producers and manufacturers. The list includes listed and non-listed companies (private companies, partnerships and co-operatives).
6. Marks & Spencer, Coop Group (Switzerland) and Waitrose retain their Tier1 position and are joined by Noble Foods, which climbs one place from Tier 2.
7. In Tier 2 for the second year running are The Co-operative Food (UK), J Sainsbury, Unilever, Cranswick, McDonald’s and Migros, with Marfrig joining the Tier for the first time, climbing one place from Tier 3.
8. Retaining their Tier 3 ranking are Ahold, FrieslandCampina, Groupe Danone, JBS, Nestlé, Subway, Tesco and Tyson Foods. They are joined by Barilla, BRF, Sodexo and Walmart who have all moved up one tier and Compass Group, Greggs, Kaufland who have moved up two tiers and Whitbread who has moved up 3 tiers.
9. Companies were measured on their approach to managing farm animal welfare in three areas: (1) Management Commitment and Policy, (2) Governance and Policy Implementation, and (3) Leadership and Innovation. The assessments were based on information published by companies.
10. For the first time, Australian companies Woolworths Limited and Wesfarmers have been benchmarked.
11. Compassion in World Farming and World Animal Protection actively engage with food companies to improve farm animal welfare across their operations and encourage them to report on their welfare standards and practices.
12. Compassion in World Farming’s involvement in the BBFAW is kindly supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

Farm animal welfare is riding high on the consumer agenda and we expect far higher standards for animals from the world’s leading food companies. “With 70 billion animals farmed for food annually, poor animal welfare in industrial farming cannot be ignored. A better life for these animals relies upon global, large-scale changes across the industry. Steve McIvor, acting CEO of World Animal Protection