CO-OP GROUP (SWITZERLAND), CRANSWICK, MARKS & SPENCER, MIGROS AND WAITROSE CONTINUE TO SHOW LEADERSHIP ON FARM ANIMAL WELFARE
London, UK. The sixth annual Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare, launched today at the London Stock Exchange, identifies Co-op Group (Switzerland), Cranswick, Marks & Spencer, Migros and Waitrose as global leaders on farm animal welfare.
The Benchmark also shows that many of the 110 global food companies covered by the Benchmark are integrating farm animal welfare into their management and reporting processes. For example, 47% of these companies now have explicit board or senior management oversight of farm animal welfare, and 72% have published formal improvement objectives for farm animal welfare.
Commenting on the overall findings, Nicky Amos, Executive Director of BBFAW noted: “Perhaps the most significant change relative to the 2016 Benchmark is the dramatically improved performance of the restaurants and bars sector. Our discussions with companies in the sector suggest that this improvement is being driven by increased client and consumer interest in farm animal welfare, and by NGO, media and investor pressure on these companies to make public commitments on specific animal welfare issues (e.g. on cage-free eggs, on broiler chicken welfare, on reductions in the use of antibiotics).
Dr Rory Sullivan, Expert Advisor to BBFAW noted: “It is clear that farm animal welfare is moving from the farm gates to the boardroom. Increasingly, food companies see farm animal welfare as a core risk and a strategic issue, featuring alongside issues such as climate change, water and public health. Despite this, 42 of the 110 companies covered by the Benchmark – a group which includes household names such as Kraft Heinz, Mars Inc. and Starbucks Corporation provide very limited information on their approach to farm animal welfare.”
We are delighted to announce we are holding an in-person launch event for the release of the 2023 Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW).
8th April 2024NN Group, a Dutch financial services company, with a strong presence in several European countries and Japan, has become a member of the BBFAW Global Investor Collaboration on Farm Animal Welfare. As a signatory to the Collaboration, NN Group will participate in an annual engagement to improve animal welfare management practices amongst BBFAW’s 150 global companies.
26th February 2024In March and April 2023, the BBFAW conducted a pilot assessment of 150 companies against the new 2022 benchmark criteria. Instead of the usual public BBFAW report, this briefing paper summarises methodological findings from the BBFAW 2022 pilot benchmark and includes case study examples of company reporting. The briefing also confirms the assessment approach for the BBFAW 2023 assessments, which are scheduled to take place in October to December 2023.
31st July 2023