19/05/2015

I wanted to showcase some of the incredible successes for animals that Compassion has achieved by working collaboratively with food businesses. In a series of special blog posts, I’ll highlight some of the amazing things we have achieved for farm animals around the world.

Keeping hens in cages is dreadful. Imagine the scene at a typical battery cage egg farm: tiers of tiny, barren cages so small hens can’t even stretch their wings. Hens crammed into each cage, where they can do little else but lay eggs and survive.

Thankfully, visionary food companies are leading the way towards a cage-free future for hens.

You might not be familiar with the name Mondelēz, but I’m sure you’ll have heard of iconic brands like Oreo biscuits, Cadbury chocolate and Philadelphia cream cheese. Mondelēz International is the leading global manufacturer of confectionary snacks.

Mondelēz wants all the eggs they use in their biscuits and chocolate to be from cage-free hens. They already use cage-free eggs in all of their European chocolate and they are extending their support to cage-free egg production by committing to source 15% of their eggs from cage-free hens by 2016.

In a statement, Mondelēz said: “Our end goal is for all eggs to be produced without cages. We are encouraged by reports that major egg buyers have started the transition to cage-free and we hope this will lead to a general transformation in the market, so that cage-free eggs become the mainstream option.”

It is fantastic to see such a major player stating that their end goal is for all eggs to be produced without cages.

Building on success

This latest move comes on top of the ground-breaking work that our Food Business Team has undertaken. Over the past three years, our Food Business Team has worked closely with Mondelēz and their suppliers to ensure the milk Philadelphia uses from dairy cows with access to pasture in the grass growing season.

In 2013, our Food Business Team awarded Philadelphia a Good Dairy Commendation for Philadelphia in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. This was proudly promoted on the packaging of more than 10 million packs of Philadelphia in the UK.

On receiving the award, Chrystel Barranger, President Cheese & Grocery, Mondelēz International said “Philadelphia is made with fresh milk from farms that we know and trust. The welfare of animals is a priority for Philadelphia and we are actively working with our milk suppliers to ensure the highest standards. We believe that happy and healthy cows produce the highest quality milk, and the highest quality milk means the best tasting Philadelphia cream cheese.

We are delighted to be recognised by Compassion in World Farming for our efforts to source even more milk from farms with outdoor grazing and the best welfare conditions.”

I’m so delighted to see Mondelēz making crucial changes that will mean a huge difference for farm animals in Europe. I congratulate them on this huge progress and look forward to seeing what comes next for this inspirational company on their animal welfare journey. I’m hugely proud of the incredible partnership Compassion’s Food Business Team has developed with Mondelēz.