Multi Species Cage Free Award general criteria

Companies can receive the award in one of two categories:

Current Policy: awarded to companies that already meet the award criteria.
In Transition: awarded to companies that have made a public commitment and are working towards meeting the criteria within five years.

General criteria

You will need to be a large food company who can satisfy the following general criteria:

This award is a multi species award covering the following species: Laying Hens, Pigs, Rabbits, Quails, and Ducks. Applicants need to have a minimum of two of the relevant species in their supply chain. For companies with just one species in their supply chain, you may be eligible for one of our single species Farm Animal Welfare Awards.
Applicants must meet the criteria across all relevant species in their supply chain.
Applicants must meet the criteria across all product categories.
The award will be given per region (e.g. Europe or North America). All company operations within the region must meet the award criteria.
The award is for large food companies, and for retailers, the award applies to all own-brand products, including tertiary brands.
Applicants must meet the criteria on a current policy or on a commitment basis to be achieved within five years.
Cage-free requirements must be written into sourcing policy
For EU-based companies: the cross-species cage-free commitment must be public and include a statement of support for an EU-wide cage ban for all farmed species covered by the Multi Species Cage Free Award (i.e. laying hens, pigs, rabbits, ducks, quails).

Welfare Criteria - Laying Hens

No products to be sourced from hens in cages, including whole eggs, egg products and ingredients, or meat from end-of-lay hens
Current policy or commitment to meet the following criteria within five years:
- An overarching regional commitment to adopt a cage-free sourcing policy*, which applies to all shell eggs, egg products and egg ingredients
- No use of combination and limited access systems**

NOTE: Companies should meet their cage-free commitment through physical sourcing only (no cage-free credits).

* An overarching regional commitment applies at a group level and for all of the company's operations in a given region (i.e. Europe, North America)

** Combination (or ‘combi’) and limited access systems refer to compact multi-tier systems where hens can be permanently enclosed in a tier via the closure of external doors and movement within tiers is restricted via internal partitions. Access to the floor is restricted in limited access systems, from the first tier only. These systems, if present in your current supply chain, must be modified or excluded within a maximum of five years.

Retailers: The cage-free shell egg policy must apply to all eggs sold in store (own label and branded). The egg product/ingredient policy need only apply to own-label products.

Welfare Criteria - Pigs

No products to be sourced from systems where sows are confined (sow stalls/gestation crates, farrowing crates), including fresh and frozen pork; bacon, gammon and sausage; cured /cooked hams and sliced meats; processed pig meat and ingredient.
Current policy or commitment to meet the following criteria within 5 five years:
- No confinement (sow stalls/gestation crates) during the dry period, inclusive of the observation period*
- No confinement during farrowing and lactation (farrowing crates)
  - Short duration confinement for management purposes limited to two hours at any time
  - Minimum farrowing pen size: 6.9m2 with at least 5.9m2 available to the sow and 1m2 for the creep area
  - In case of temporary crates, monitoring system in place to ensure the crate is operated in open position
  - An active monitoring/improvement programme for pre-wean mortality must be in place

Retailers: This policy must apply to all own label products and may exclude branded products.

*Observation period: period (typically four weeks) following service and until pregnancy diagnosis

Welfare Criteria - Rabbits

No products to be sourced from rabbits in cages, including fresh and frozen rabbit meat; further processed rabbit meat and ingredient.
Current policy or commitment to meet the following criteria within five years:
- No meat products to be sourced from rabbits kept in caged systems.
- Farmed rabbits and does should be group housed (individual doe housing during kindling and nursing is permitted).

Retailers: This policy must apply to all own label products and may exclude branded products.

Welfare Criteria - Quail

No products to be sourced from laying quails kept in cages, including eggs, egg products and ingredients, or meat from end-of-lay quails
Current policy or commitment to meet the following criteria within five years:
- No whole eggs, egg product or meat to be sourced from quail in caged systems

Retailers: The cage-free shell egg policy must apply to all eggs sold in store (own label and branded). The egg product/ingredient policy need only apply to own label products.

Welfare Criteria - Ducks

No products to be sourced from ducks kept in cages for foie gras production and other duck meat products, including fresh and frozen duck; further processed duck meat and ingredient.
Current policy should meet the following criteria:
- No meat products to be sourced from ducks in caged systems

Retailers: This policy must apply to all own label products and may exclude branded products.

WHY APPLY?

Winning an award enables you to:

Demonstrate leadership on farm animal welfare and responsible sourcing.
Show how your policies and commitments align with your company's values and sustainability goals.
Strengthen supply chain transparency and traceability, helping to manage business and reputational risk.
Build trust and confidence among customers, investors and other stakeholders.
Gain recognition for your achievements from a globally respected farm animal welfare organisation.
Respond to growing consumer demand for food produced to higher welfare standards.

Support on your journey
We can help you identify welfare improvements through our expert technical advice and support, through our case studies which share best practice and we have a bank of resources to help you make the case for choosing higher welfare systems.

HOW TO APPLY

Companies can apply via their engagement with the Food Business team and on completion of an application form signed at Director level.

Where an application is made on a commitment basis, companies are required to provide annual progress reports against their commitment. Compassion will maintain regular contact with award winners throughout the commitment period to monitor progress, offer ongoing support, and help ensure commitments are met within the agreed timeframe.

Ready to apply? Contact us today to start the conversation.

Note: The final decision on company eligibility for the Multi Species Cage Free Award is at the discretion of the Food Business team at Compassion in World Farming.

Multi Species Cage-Free Award Eligibility and Criteria