Today (10 October 2018) sees the launch of the Global Coalition for Animal Welfare (GCAW) – an industry led initiative aimed at advancing animal welfare across the globe.

GCAW represents some of the largest names in global food production and food service: Nestlé, Unilever, Aramark, Compass Group, Elior Group, Sodexo and IKEA.

The coalition aims to address systemic barriers to improving animal welfare, accelerate the development of standards and drive progress on key welfare issues.

Working with a group of multi-disciplinary experts from academia, industry and civil society, GCAW will establish an agenda for change focused on five priority areas:

Cage-free policies
Improved broiler chicken welfare
Farmed fish welfare
Antimicrobial resistance
Global standards for transportation and slaughter

Compassion has been working in all five areas that the companies have identified as priority work streams and we are encouraged by the willingness of these global food companies to lead the way.

The Coalition advancement measures include:

Providing a platform for food companies to work more closely with farm animal welfare experts to identify common objectives and drive improvements;
Prioritising welfare issues and developing roadmaps for industry change while supporting producers in implementing strong animal welfare practices;
Advancing animal welfare knowledge globally through industry insights, bespoke research and partnerships for action.

With more than 70 billion land animals farmed for food annually, and with growing consumer concern about the provenance of food products, it’s great to see industry taking steps to improve animal welfare standards at scale across the globe.

GCAW aims to publish a full agenda for change in 2019.

Find out more about the Coalition here.