Today (22nd February), the sixth annual Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) launched at the London Stock Exchange. This year’s report shows that while retailers continue to dominate in the top tier ranking, restaurants and bars are catching up fast.

Still more work to be done

The Benchmark which is supported by Compassion in World Farming, World Animal Protection, and investment firm, Coller Capital, shows that many of the global food companies included are integrating farm animal welfare into their management and reporting processes. However, while the Benchmark provides a solid framework for companies on which to build and improve their performance, much work is still to be done. The overall average score (37%) remains fairly low, and 41 out of 110 companies still appear in Tiers 5 and 6, indicating that they provide little or no information on their approach to farm animal welfare.

Strong commitments

Seventeen companies occupy leadership positions in the Benchmark’s top two tiers. These companies demonstrate strong commitments to farm animal welfare and have established management systems and processes in place to deliver on their welfare commitments. They include Coop Group (Switzerland), Cranswick, Marks & Spencer, Migros and Waitrose in Tier 1.

In Tier 2 for the second-year running are BRF, Cargill, The Co-operative Food (UK), Greggs, Tesco, Unilever and McDonald’s. Danish Crown, J Sainsbury, and JBS join the Tier for the first time, climbing one place from Tier 3, and US-based Perdue Farms join the Tier as a new company to the BBFAW in 2017. Noble Foods also appears in Tier 2, having fallen from Tier 1.

Eight companies have dropped one tier, including: Edeka Group, Ferrero, Mars Inc, New Hope Group, Subway, Sysco Corporation and Wendy’s Corporation.

Encouraging steps

Our CEO, Philip Lymbery, said: “I am encouraged by the growing number of companies embracing animal welfare and making it a priority in their business, and I’m particularly pleased by the step change in attitude from within the restaurants and bars sector this year, which has traditionally lagged behind the retailer and manufacturing sectors. Pressure from consumers, investors, the media and NGOs, is shining a spotlight on farm animal welfare, forcing it up the corporate agenda. I congratulate those companies responding positively and encourage those yet to meet the challenge to start taking action for farm animals in their supply.”

Download the report

• Download the Executive Summary
• Download the full 2017 Business Benchmark Report