In recent months, Triodos Research followed up with companies in the food retail and restaurant industries with whom we engaged and provided recommendations in 2014. At the time of that initial dialogue, our goal was to encourage the tightening of animal welfare policies and standards. The so-called Five Freedoms are a leading framework in this respect. These freedoms are related to: hunger and thirst; discomfort; pain, injury or disease; the ability to express normal behavior; and mental suffering. It was reassuring to learn that a number of the companies has significantly improved their practices, and have started new activities to improve farm animal welfare in their supply chain that go beyond the required legal minimum standards.
Frontrunners
Among the frontrunners with regard to improved performance are Colruyt, Whitbread and Whole Foods Market.
Colruyt – improved guidelines and monitoring
The company clearly addressed our recommendations and its progress is impressive. The Belgian supermarket retailer has not only implemented clear general animal welfare guidelines, but also substantially improved its reporting, and developed new standards for, for example, chickens, animal ingredients in non-food products and the use of antibiotics. Its monitoring and evaluation system has also been strengthened and is an important pillar of the company’s approach. Improved procurement policies and procedures concerning all animals in its supply chain are also top of the agenda. The company seeks close collaboration with its suppliers to progressively develop better standards. We would like to see Colruyt extend its commitment and publish more concrete standards, and to extend its scope beyond Belgium.
Whitbread – improved transparency
In the past, Whitbread’s external communication about animal welfare lagged behind industry standards, but it has improved since we last engaged with them. As the UK’s largest hotel, restaurant and coffee shop operator, Whitbread had a number of policies in place, but they were never publicly available. Now however, a new, concise animal welfare policy, including a number of clear and good standards, has been released, covering such topics as mutilations, the use of antibiotics and growth hormones, slaughter practices and transport. The company has also set a target on farm animal welfare improvements and has committed to cease trading with suppliers that demonstrate persistent disregard for its animal welfare policy. In the medium-term, Whitbread intends to work on specie-specific animal welfare standards.
Whole Foods Market – GAP system advocate
Animal welfare has been an important issue for US company Whole Foods Market for more than 10 years. As the world’s leader in natural and organic foods, the company first started promoting and offering vegetarian alternatives, and introduced a non-antibiotics policy. Regulation is relatively non-existent in the United States, the main market for Whole Food Market. Instead of ignoring the issue, the company developed its own standards, working closely with a handful of suppliers, and differentiating itself from its competitors. It has teamed up with Global Animal Partnership (GAP), an international, nonprofit, charitable organisation that brings farmers, animal welfare advocacy organisations, scientists and retailers together. The GAP developed a specie-specific welfare standard, which Whole Foods Market has set as the minimum acceptable level. The system is currently being rolled out in other countries with the support of the company.
Other outperformers in implementing and improving animal-related policies that apply to their entire supply chain are H&M and Wessanen .
The Global Animal Partnership 5-Step®Animal Welfare Standards
The 5‐Step® Animal Welfare Rating programme assesses the welfare of animals on‐farm, during transport, at collection points and at slaughter. The programme aims to promote continuous improvement in animal agriculture. It provides more detailed information about the level of welfare of farm animals, thus better informing consumers about the production systems they may choose to support. The programme provides a unique approach to farm animal welfare certification. Each set of species-specific – e.g. beef cattle, broiler chickens and pigs - welfare standards has its own requirements that must be met before a farm or ranch can receive a 5-Step certificate. Authorized, third-party certification companies perform the audits and issue Step certificates. As such, producers, consumers, and retailers alike can be confident that Step ratings are fair, accurate, and free from conflicts of interest.
So, what’s next?
Although the companies in our universe are making good progress, they still have to deal with a number of obstacles. Making improvements in their supply chain, for example, largely depends on the financial capacity of farmers to improve their practices. Having learned about these obstacles helps us to develop our own standards further.
Whilst companies in our investment universe are already leaders in farm animal welfare, particularly for fresh meat and eggs, we expect to see the leading companies develop more initiatives related to dairy and processed food. We will therefore continue our engagement efforts with companies in our investment universe.
Note: The issues explored in this article are relevant for sustainable investments on the stock market. Triodos Bank believes that our socially responsible investments are a powerful means of promoting our values and working for greater sustainability, while enabling us to offer a complete range of attractive investment options to customers who choose to invest on the stock market.