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When motivated, leading companies can make fast and decisive improvements that can benefit millions of animals, each and every year.

We work with leading food companies to encourage them to commit to higher welfare production, practices, and sourcing policies throughout their supply.

OVER 2.6 BILLION!
Animals set to benefit each year from these commitments​

Awards that change millions of lives

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966 million animals set to benefit each year

Our Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards recognise companies committing to higher welfare production and sourcing within a 5-year timeframe by species and product category.

Increasingly, we recognise businesses that are producing or sourcing from higher welfare systems and in ways that protect, improve and restore wildlife and the environment through our Sustainable Food and Farming Awards – and companies that are coupling higher animal welfare with a rebalancing of their protein offer through our Planet Friendly Award.

The Awards are celebrated annually at our prestigious awards ceremony and help drive continuous improvements within companies, stimulate market shift through competition, and lift consumer awareness through the marketing of their awards.

Impact by species

We have aligned our Good Egg Award criteria with the cage-free movement for laying hens, requiring a commitment to adopt a cage-free sourcing policy (for all shell eggs, egg products and egg ingredients) within 5 years, which prohibits the use of combination and limited access systems.

The criteria for the Good Chicken Award is aligned to the requirements of the European Chicken Commitment (ECC), and with the Better Chicken Commitment in the US. Companies must demonstrate significant progress (at least 50%) in their transition toward the ECC and report publicly on their transition timelines and progress.

Partnerships that facilitate positive change

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Potential to benefit over 398 million additional animals by working in partnership with leading food companies

We work in partnership with leading food companies to help find solutions to specific welfare issues, incorporate good practice, and to facilitate the implementation of commitments.

Red Tractor Enhanced Welfare Module

Compassion worked with Red Tractor to launch the ‘Enhanced Welfare’ module and marque for indoor chicken in 2020 which meets the European Chicken Commitment (ECC) criteria.

The module provides a ready-made third-party audit for companies wanting to source to this standard and the label allows them to differentiate their higher welfare chicken from standard production.

Red Tractor New Module June 2020

In 2021, we worked together again with Red Tractor on the introduction of the higher welfare breed Hubbard Redbro under their Enhanced Welfare module.

The breed underwent a rigorous approval process, cross-referencing the findings of the Broiler Breed Welfare Assessment protocol with commercial results from Red Tractor member trials. The data repeatedly demonstrated that the Hubbard Redbro was commensurate in welfare outcomes with breeds already on the list of approved breeds by the ECC.

Having another commercially viable breed approved under the Red Tractor scheme is an important enabler for companies who have signed up to the ECC and will be key in driving the market forwards in higher welfare chicken production.

‘Etiquette Bien-être Animal’ (French animal welfare labelling scheme)

Compassion worked in depth with French retailer Casino Group and animal welfare NGOs, LFDA and OABA to develop the very first animal welfare labelling scheme in France. The scheme is now independently run by the Association Etiquette Bien-être Animal.

Etiquettebeavisuels

The initial project delivered a labelling and auditing scheme for meat chicken, assessing welfare on a scale A-E. The on-farm criteria of the Better Chicken Commitment is represented as Level C, with A representing the highest level of welfare and E representing the lowest.

In 2021, over 10% of French chicken production was covered by the animal welfare labelling.

The Association Etiquette Bien-être Animal is now working with it partners to develop the auditing grid for pigs.

The scheme currently comprises of four animal welfare NGOs (CIWF, LFDA, OABA, Welfarm), five retailers (Casino Group, Carrefour, Système U, Les Mousquetaires and Lidl France), and five poultry producers (Les Fermiers de Loué, Les Fermiers du Sud-Ouest, Galliance, Maître Coq and Groupe Michel), two manufacturers (Fleury Michon and Herta) and one pig producer (Cooperl).

Global Animal Partnership

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Compassion has worked with the Global Animal Partnership (GAP) and their 5-Step® Animal Welfare Rating Program for more than a decade, helping to evolve their standards across all species.

In 2016, GAP signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) in the US with their major customer, Whole Foods Market. More recently, Compassion has been working with GAP on the broiler breed assessment review to determine which breeds of chicken will be approved for the 5 Step programme and the BCC in the US.

Making Cage-Free Conversions Count

In the UK, Compassion worked with the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC), Tesco and Noble Foods, the UK’s largest egg producer, to introduce a new standard for UK barn egg production, with significantly higher welfare credentials than those in EU legislation, and higher than the KAT system in Germany.

Noble Foods has worked alongside their equipment manufacturers, Vencomatic, to convert one of their large enriched colony caged units to the new higher welfare aviary barn system. 

In Italy, the Food Business team continues to work with the food industry and leading egg producers to encourage the elimination of combi systems and the transition to well-designed multi-tier aviary barn systems. 

In June 2021, the largest Italian egg producer - and leading egg producer in Europe - Eurovo Group committed to phasing out cages for laying hens on its Italian-owned farms by 2022 and made a further commitment to phase out the use of combination or ‘combi’ systems by 2025.

Influencing The Pig Industry

Compassion’s work with UK retailers, wholesaler Winterbotham Darby and leading continental pork manufacturers are improving the welfare of sows across Europe. Our joint aim is to transition to completely sow-stall free and free-farrowing systems, with the provision of appropriate manipulable material and nesting material.

Winterbotham Darby has set up a unique Gold, Silver, Bronze (UKAS accredited ISO:17065) animal welfare certification scheme for their meat suppliers which is driving welfare improvements across their European supply chain, for which they received Special Recognition in 2018.

Best Practise In Dairy Cow Welfare

Danone Logo

Compassion has worked in partnership with Danone in France for many years on the development of their welfare outcome measures and active improvement programmes for dairy cows.

Following the release of an animal welfare guide for dairy cows in 2011, we worked with Danone on their animal welfare assessment protocol, which has been successfully piloted in Spain and is now being implemented on a global scale.

In 2021, we collaborated with Danone on the creation of a new dairy cow welfare guide for farmers and technicians. This booklet is freely available for all industry stakeholders.

Corporate pledges – making history

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Working directly with powerful food companies, our work is set to benefit over 1.6 billion animals each year

Compassion engages with companies to encourage them to make meaningful improvements to the lives of animals in their supply. No company can change the world on its own – collective action is required to make the biggest gains.

As consumer demand for cage-free eggs grows and momentum builds across the food industry for better chicken welfare, our focus is on ensuring fit for purpose and fit for future production systems for laying hens and broiler chickens.

We drive progress by securing higher welfare policy commitments from leading companies, facilitating the implementation of higher welfare standards, and measuring progress through key tools such as our Supermarket Survey, EggTrack and the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare.

Better Chicken Commitment

Following Compassion’s in-depth work with Knorr and Global Animal Partnership (GAP) to introduce higher welfare standards for broiler chickens - for which they each received Special Recognition Awards in 2015 and 2016 respectively - nine leading NGO’s in the US (2016) and 30 NGO’s in Europe (2017) came together and agreed a unified ‘corporate ask’ for improved broiler welfare.

The Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) in the US and the European Chicken Commitment (ECC) asks for a reduced stocking density (to 30kg/m2, 6llb/ft2), use of approved breeds with proven good welfare outcomes, the provision of natural light, pecking substrates and perches, with humane slaughter methods and third party auditing.

To date, more than 230 US brands have signed up to meet the BCC by 2024 (and the higher welfare breed standard by 2026), and over 380 companies have signed up to meet the ECC criteria by 2026.

Compassion has worked closely with some of the food companies that have pledged to improve their chicken standards. Find out more here.

  • In the US – Whole Foods Market was the first major food company to sign up to the new requirements for broiler chickens by 2024. Today, major companies across food service, manufacturing, and restaurant sectors have joined the ranks. The growing list of committed companies includes brands like Subway, General Mills, and Popeyes. Read the full listing of US company broiler welfare commitments here.
  • In Europe – leading brands like KFC, Burger King, Nando's, Domino's, M&S, Unilever, Nestlé, Waitrose, Danone, Elior Group, Sodexo, E, Leclerc, Intermarché and Carrefour have all have signed up to the European Chicken Commitment, promising to achieve their aims by 2026. Read the full listing here.

More than 1 billion broilers are set to positively benefit when these corporate pledges come to fruition, as part of our ongoing food business engagement.

Facilitating Corporate Change - Broilers

With momentum on sign-ups to the BCC and ECC, companies are looking to the Food Business team to help drive the implementation of the new standards, irrespective of where in the world the chicken is produced.

Compassion facilitates change by:

  1. Working with companies to develop their roadmap for implementation, in particular making the business case; mapping the supply; finding solutions to barriers; marketing and consumer communications
  2. Hosting industry fora, where stakeholders across the supply share experiences on transition to the BCC, update on the latest information, and brainstorm next steps for progressing delivery
  3. Participating in industry Working Groups to drive change on key topics or find solutions to specific barriers
  4. Engaging with Assurance Schemes to encourage them to set standards and audit to the Better Chicken Commitment
  5. Measuring progress through key tools such as ChickenTrack 

Cage-free production for laying hens

Two free range egg laying hens outside

2016 marked a truly remarkable year for the future welfare of laying hens. We witnessed a wave of cage-free commitments from many of the world’s most influential food companies, starting in the US with McDonald’s (2015) and rippling out to over 200 US companies, including Walmart, the largest grocer in the US.

Pledges in Europe followed suit, and included the remaining UK supermarkets selling caged eggs (Tesco, Aldi, Morrisons, Iceland, Lidl and Asda), all leading supermarkets in France, 7 out of the 10 leading supermarkets in Italy, almost all the leading supermarkets in Spain, and food service giants Sodexo, Compass Group and Elior Group.

Assigning Cages To the History Books

Following the highly successful Compassion led European Citizen’s Initiative to 'End the Cage Age' - collaborating with 170 NGO’s and securing 1.4 million verified signatures – on 30th June, the European Commission made a historic landmark decision to end the use of caged systems in livestock production by 2027.

Ten leading European food companies voiced their support for the ECI by sending a joint letter to the EU Commission and Members of the EU Parliament commending the aims of the initiative. Many of these companies are leading the way and driving the market with their own commitments and transition to cage-free production but legislation will need to catch up if we are to eradicate cages for good.

Amidst the multiple influencing factors on these corporate decisions, Compassion is proud to have played an influencing role with some of the biggest industry players to establish cage-free policies:

  • In the US - major restaurant chains McDonald’s, Panera Bread and Taco Bell, major food service company Aramark, and top American supermarkets Walmart, Costco, Trader Joe’s, Publix, and Ahold/Delhaize.
  • In Europe - Casual Dining Group (whose brands include Bella Italia, Café Rouge and Las Iguanas) and Whitbread (whose brands include Premier Inn and Beefeater Grill) in the UK; leading French retailers Casino, Intermarché, Auchan, Carrefour, E.Leclerc, Systeme U and Avril (No. 1 egg producer in France); leading Italian retailers Conad, Lidl Italy, ALDI Italy and Bennet, and the Italian food service companies Camst, MARR, and Autogrill.
  • Global - the biggest food service companies in the world, Sodexo, Elior Group and Compass Group, and other global leaders including Barilla, Ferrero, Nestlé and Danone.

More than 70 million laying hens are set to positively benefit when these corporate pledges come to fruition, as part of our ongoing food business engagement.

Facilitating Corporate Change - Laying Hens

Converting caged housing for laying hens demands that systems are ‘fit for purpose’ to ensure the hens have a good quality of life, and ‘fit for future’ to stand the test of time.

There are a range of multi-tier and aviary systems on the market – from highly intensive combi systems to more spacious well-designed aviaries. Compassion has worked with the egg industry, egg producers and equipment manufacturers to develop its guidance on multi-tier aviary systems. Read more here.

Compassion facilitates change by:

  1. Working with companies to develop their roadmap for implementation, in particular making the business case; mapping the supply; finding solutions to barriers; marketing and consumer communications
  2. Hosting industry fora, where stakeholders across the supply share experiences on transition to cage-free production, update on the latest information, and brainstorm next steps for progressing delivery
  3. Participating in industry Working Groups to drive change on key topics or find solutions to specific barriers
  4. Engaging with Assurance Schemes to encourage them to set standards in line with true cage-free systems
  5. Measuring progress through key tools such as EggTrack 

Energising ethical investment

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The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) - a powerful tool for change in the food industry

BBFAW publicly ranks the world’s major food companies on their farm animal welfare policies, practices and performance.

The 2023 Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare was launched on 25 April 2024 and set a new baseline for animal welfare improvement.

A total of 150 global food producers, retailers and food-service companies with combined revenues of more than US$4.9 trillion, including the likes of McDonaldsTesco and Tyson Foods, were ranked by BBFAW.

In 2023, the Benchmark introduced tougher assessment criteria and an increased focus on ‘Performance Impact’ - measuring how well companies are delivering on their welfare commitments. It also included a new section on how companies are recognising the need to reduce reliance on animal sourced foods and diversify into alternative proteins.

The 2023 Benchmark found that 95% of global food companies now recognise ‘farm animal welfare’ as a core business issue (up from 79% in 2012).

The highest ranked companies achieving ‘Tier 2’ status were Marks & Spencer, Premier Foods and Waitrose, demonstrating their leadership in making farm animal welfare integral to their business strategy.

The highest scoring companies on ‘Performance Impact’ achieving a ‘C’ rating included: Marks & Spencer (UK), Groupe Danone (FR), Premier Foods (UK), Waitrose (UK), Cranswick PLC (UK) and Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund (Switzerland). 

BBFAW is supported by a coalition of institutional investors, managing over $2.3 trillion in assets who will engage with the companies in the year ahead to help drive further improvements.

The BBFAW Secretariat maintains the Global Investor Statement on Farm Animal Welfare and Global Investor Collaboration on Farm Animal Welfare, a collaborative engagement between major institutional investors and food companies on the issue of farm animal welfare.

In addition, the Secretariat, along with its BBFAW sponsors, manages extensive engagement programmes with companies and investors and provides practical guidance and tools for companies and for investors on key animal welfare issues.

BBFAW is run by an independent secretariat and is co-funded by the founding partner Compassion in World Farming, and Four Paws.

BBFAW Partner Logos 2021

(World Animal Protection was a supporting partner of BBFAW from 2012 until March 2021, and the programme was also part-funded by investment company Coller Capital from 2014 to 2017.)

Find out more about the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare here.

Transforming consumer awareness

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Delivering higher welfare messages to over 27 billion consumers

We reach a wide range of consumers through our media and partnership marketing activities.

Our winners promote their awards and higher welfare products through a number of marketing channels including advertising, in-store promotions and social media.

Les Fermiers de Loué

In 2021, French, higher welfare poultry producers, Les Fermiers de Loué, received Compassion’s Best Marketing Award for their humorous and eye-catching street poster campaign, promoting their higher welfare chicken.

Find out more
1. Les Fermiers de Loué

Waitrose & Partners

In 2019, Waitrose & Partners received our Best Retailer Marketing Award for their consistent and high-level consumer-facing communications on farm animal welfare. 

WATCH THE VIDEO
2. Waitrose & Partners

Kipster

Our 2018 Best Marketing Award was awarded to Dutch manufacturer Kipster for developing a system which addresses welfare as well as environmental concerns. 

WATCH THE VIDEO
3. Kipster

Aldi Italy

Aldi Italy promoted their 2019 Good Egg Award through a range of channels reaching over four million consumers.

4. Aldi Italy

Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s marketing campaign to celebrate their Good Dairy Commendation in 2014 reached an estimated 14 million consumers across the UK and Benelux region.

5. Philadelphia

KLM

KLM’s in-flight promotion of their 2013 Good Chicken Award reached an estimated 3 million passengers.

 

6. KLM

Dokas

German pet food retailer Dokas has seized the opportunity to promote their higher welfare rabbit credentials by promoting their 2019 Good Rabbit Commendation through various channels reaching over 3 million consumers to date.

7. Dokas

Find out more about our Retailer Marketing Award winners and marketing awards that have been presented to other brands here.

Look out for our award logos on your favourite branded products in-store.

Interested in promoting your higher welfare products?  Watch this video and get inspired!

Our commitment to transparency

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When companies withdraw from their commitments

We work closely with companies to help them meet their commitments to animal welfare,   and will always try to find an alternative to withdrawing an award. However,  if a company changes its policy and no longer meets the criteria for our award(s), we will publicly retract the award and record it here on our impact page.

To date, 180 million animals (each year) have been affected by awards that have been withdrawn:

Good Egg Award

  • Morrisons (UK) – award withdrawn (2012) and reinstated (2018). In February 2020, Morrisons announced that they had met their cage-free target for shell eggs 2 years ahead of schedule and now only sell 100% free-range eggs in this category.
  • GS Plus withdrew from their 2013 award in 2021

Good Chicken Award

  • Valverde (Italy) – withdrew from award 2019
  • Sainsbury’s (UK) – award withdrawn 2018
  • IKEA (EU) – award withdrawn 2017
  • Coop Italia (Italy) – award withdrawn 2015
  • Amadori’s 10+ Brand (Italy) – award withdrawn 2015
  • Coop (UK) – award withdrawn 2014
  • GS Plus withdrew from their 2015 award in 2021

Good Dairy Award

  • ADSA (UK) - withdrew from award 2015

Good Dairy Commendation

  • GS Plus withdrew from their 2015 award in 2021

Good Pig Award

  • GS Plus withdrew from their 2016 award in 2021
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If you have any further questions regarding this, or any other matter, please get in touch with us at supporters@ciwf.org.uk. We aim to respond to all queries within two working days. However, due to the high volume of correspondence that we receive, it may occasionally take a little longer. Please do bear with us if this is the case. Alternatively, if your query is urgent, you can contact our Supporter Engagement Team on +44 (0)1483 521 953 (lines open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm).