VEVEY, Switzerland – The 2019 Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) today recognized Nestlé’s efforts to enhance animal welfare throughout its supply chain. For the first time, Nestlé ranked as a ‘Tier 2’ performer in the annual benchmark of the food industry’s efforts to improve standards around the world, placing the company in a group of leading performers in the industry. ‘Tier 2’ status means that animal welfare is integral to Nestlé’s business strategy.
Nestlé received particular recognition for improvements to its reporting and transparency on animal welfare practices in its supply chain.
Commenting on the ranking, Magdi Batato, Global Head of Operations at Nestlé said: “We care about animal welfare and are committed to improving the way farm animals are treated.
We are pleased to move up to ‘Tier 2’ in the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare index this year. This recognizes our efforts to improve transparency and reporting on our progress. We will continue to work with others in the food industry to make further improvements.”
Nestlé uses animal proteins as an ingredient in a number of products. It has taken a series of actions and made commitments on animal welfare, including:
- Committing to sourcing cage free eggs only worldwide by year-end 2025.
- Sourcing cage free eggs only by year-end 2020 in the U.S. and Europe.
- Improving the welfare of broiler chickens in Nestlé’s U.S. supply chain by year-end 2024.
- Delivering similar improvements in Nestlé’s European supply chain by year-end 2026.
- Signing a global collaboration agreement with Compassion in World Farming.
These measures build on Nestlé’s global Commitment on Farm Animal Welfare (pdf, 2Mb). This focuses on ensuring respect for the internationally recognized ‘five freedoms’ for farm animals and forms the basis of Nestlé’s responsible sourcing requirements on meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products.
Today’s BBFAW assessment also recognized Nestlé’s role in co-founding the Global Coalition on Animal Welfare, the world’s first industry led collaboration aimed at advancing animal welfare globally.
For more information regarding animal welfare at Nestlé read the Nestlé Farm Animal Welfare Q&A.
