August 25, 2014

Nestlé partners with animal welfare NGO
 

Nestlé has announced a major pledge to improve the welfare of the farm animals in its supply chain, following the signature of a partnership agreement with NGO World Animal Protection.

The agreement means that the hundreds of thousands of farms that supply Nestlé with its dairy, meat, poultry and eggs will have to comply with tighter animal welfare standards.

Nestlé, with its global purchasing footprint, also becomes the first major food company to form an international partnership with an animal welfare NGO.

World Animal Protection, which has been working with governments, communities and international agencies to improve animal welfare for more than 50 years, welcomed the agreement.

Nestlé has some 7,300 suppliers from whom it buys animal-derived products directly - everything from milk for its range of yoghurts and ice-creams, to meat for its chilled foods and eggs for its fresh pastry and pasta. Each of these suppliers, in turn, buys from others, meaning that Nestlé's Responsible Sourcing Guidelines apply to literally hundreds of thousands of farms around the world.

"We know that our consumers care about the welfare of farm animals and we, as a company, are committed to ensuring the highest possible levels of farm animal welfare across our global supply chain," said Benjamin Ware, the company's manager of responsible sourcing.

These commitments now include, for example, spacing requirements for the rearing pens of certain species of animals, such as pigs and cattle, to ensure they are not cramped and can engage in normal animal behaviour.

In addition, following the involvement of World Animal Protection, Nestlé's guidelines also seek to minimise pain for farm animals by using veterinary practices that reduce pain, or avoiding the practices in the first place by different animal husbandry practices. An example would be the dehorning of cattle which is used to prevent them from injuring other cattle.

Nestlé has pledged that by the end of next year, 40% of the company's key commodities - including meat, poultry, eggs and dairy will be fully traceable.