Seven European companies launched the Global Coalition for Animal Welfareon Tuesday, the world’s first food industry-led initiative aimed at advancing animal welfare globally.
The coalition aims to meet “consumer demand for food products from animals reared in systems that promote good welfare,” the coalition said.
The seven founders are Aramark, Compass Group, Elior Group, IKEA Food Services, Nestlé, Sodexo and Unilever.
With combined revenues of EUR 139 billion ($215 billion Cdn), and serving 3.7 billion customers per day, the seven companies “have launched the Global Coalition for Animal Welfare to collectively address systemic barriers to improving animal welfare, accelerate the development of standards and drive progress on key welfare issues.”
More than 70 billion land animals are farmed for food annually, and, by 2050, livestock production is expected to double the total in 2000.
The coaltions said it will advance animal welfare through:
1. Providing a platform for food companies to work more closely with farm animal welfare experts to identify common objectives and drive improvements;
2. Prioritizing welfare issues and developing roadmaps for industry change while supporting producers in implementing strong animal welfare practices;
3. Advancing animal welfare knowledge globally through industry insights, bespoke research and partnerships for action.
The coalitions has identified five priority work streams: cage-free policies, improved broiler chicken welfare, farmed fish welfare, antimicrobial resistance, and global standards for transportation and slaughter.
The coalition is working with a group of multi-disciplinary experts from academia, industry and civil society.
