STOCKHOLM, Sweden – Espresso House, the Nordic region’s largest coffeehouse chain, won praise from international NGO Lever Foundation for issuing a comprehensive new animal welfare policy that establishes rigorous standards across its meat, poultry and seafood supply chains.
The new policy expands upon previous commitments the company had made on eggs and poultry with strong new policies covering all seafood and pork ingredients used in the company’s food offerings.
Espresso House operates over 500 locations across Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Germany.
“Working alongside the procurement department and our suppliers, we’ve been striving to make real changes for animal rights, and we’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far,” noted Jessica Julin, Sustainability Manager at Espresso House Group.
The Group publicly released its new policy on Espresso House’s global website here.
The company’s expanded policy sets strong welfare standards for all fish and crustaceans in its supply chain by 2030, including mandating humane mechanical or electrical stunning; requiring aquaculture environments to meet Global Animal Partnership, RSPCA, or Naturland standards for stocking density and enrichments; requiring daily monitoring of water conditions, disease and mortality; prohibiting mutilations like eyestalk ablation and the use of bait fish; prohibiting wild-catch systems with significant bycatch or animal welfare issues such as bottom gill nets, bottom and conventional trawlers, drift and gill nets, and dredges; and limiting time of capture and time out of water for wild-caught fish.
For Espresso House’s pork supply chain, the new policy prohibits by 2030 the use of farrowing crates, sow stalls or gestation crates at any time.
It also requires environmental enrichment materials and litter to be provided, prohibits tail docking, and prohibits surgical castration without the use of painkillers.
Espresso House’s new policy also reiterates its ongoing commitment to sourcing only cage-free egg and egg ingredients across its supply chain, which it has been doing since 2021, and its commitment to source only chicken that meets European Chicken Commitment standards by 2026. The company also continues to ensure that 50% of its menu items are plant-based.
“Espresso House’s establishment of comprehensive welfare standards across all meat, poultry and seafood ingredients, alongside its strong plant-based foods policy, demonstrates the company’s exceptional leadership in the restaurant and cafe sector,” said Astrid Duque of the non-profit Lever Foundation, which has worked closely with the company on its new policy over the past two years. “Espresso House has created a compelling example that we encourage other restaurant and cafe groups to follow in adopting consistent animal welfare standards across all protein categories while also meeting consumer demand for diverse plant-based options.”
A study by the Stockholm Resilience Centre reveals that such corporate commitments align with a decisive shift in regional consumer priorities toward animal welfare and sustainable practices, with consumers increasingly viewing animal welfare as fundamental to food quality and safety. An increasing number of consumers are also replacing animal proteins with plant-based foods as the best way to protect animal welfare and sustainability.
Espresso House’s new animal welfare policy is available online here.
About Lever Foundation
Lever Foundation is a global NGO with staff operating across Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America. Lever Foundation works with leading companies to help upgrade their food sourcing for a more humane, safe and sustainable supply chain, focusing on upgraded animal protein and plant-based foods.
