Published 28/06/2018

We are delighted to share the news that today (28th June), food manufacturer Nestlé has announced that they will help improve the welfare of millions of chickens used in their European supply chain. By 2026, all Nestlé food products that use chicken as an ingredient in Europe will move to the higher welfare standards as set out in the Better Chicken Commitment.

The chicken comes first

Improving animal welfare forms part of Nestlé’s efforts to use traceable and responsibly sourced ingredients. This exciting announcement builds on a similar pledge on broiler welfare (chickens raised for meat) made by Nestlé in the US last year. It also follows the company’s decision to source only cage free eggs globally by 2025. In both Europe and the US, Nestlé will make the transition to cage-free even earlier, by the end of 2020, a move which secured them a Good Egg Award at our Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards ceremony earlier this month.

Stepping up to higher welfare standards

Nestlé joins over 90 other US businesses that have signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment in the past year.

Our Director of Food Business, Tracey Jones, said: “We are delighted that Nestlé has joined the ranks of other leading food companies signing up to the Better Chicken Commitment. Following their global commitment on cage-free eggs it really highlights the company’s ambition for continuous improvement in farm animal welfare.

“Their commitments have the potential to improve the lives of millions of farm animals and we will continue to work with Nestlé to ensure the effective implementation of these new welfare standards.”

Find out more about our Good Chicken Award here.