BBFAW 2020: Investors - Progress continues despite pandemic but companies must close gap on process and impact
MEDIA RELEASE
BUSINESS BENCHMARK ON FARM ANIMAL WELFARE 2020:
PROGRESS CONTINUES DESPITE PANDEMIC, BUT COMPANIES MUST CLOSE GAP BETWEEN PROCESS AND IMPACT
London, 30 March 2021: A leading benchmark of 150 food companies with combined revenues of more than US$3 trillion[1] worldwide has shown that farm animal welfare continued to receive sustained management attention in 2020, despite the challenges of COVID-19.
The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (the BBFAW) reveals Cranswick, Marks & Spencer, Noble Foods and Waitrose retained their Tier 1 position, maintaining their leadership position from the 2019 Benchmark and signalling their ongoing commitment to putting farm animal welfare at the top of the corporate agenda.
Across the Benchmark, which is supported by Compassion In World Farming and World Animal Protection, 23 companies moved up at least one tier, with overall average scores seeing a marginal rise to 35% in 2020, from 34% in 2019.
However, while the Benchmark shows that nearly two-thirds of companies globally (91 of the 150 companies assessed in the Benchmark) are now actively managing the business risks and opportunities associated with farm animal welfare, the benchmark also suggests that companies need to ensure that their commitments on farm animal welfare are delivering improved welfare performance in practice. For example, while 79% of companies have published formal improvement objectives for farm animal welfare (compared to 75% in 2019), almost 90% of companies are yet to meaningfully demonstrate how these commitments are leading to improved welfare performance on the ground.
Dr Rory Sullivan, co-author of the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare 2020 Report and CEO of Chronos Sustainability, said: “Demonstrating impact is becoming critically important to how investors assess the way in which companies respond to ESG risks and opportunities. BBFAW has catalysed huge progress since its launch in 2012, and today, global food companies are making great strides in ensuring farm animal welfare is an integral part of their business strategy. But reporting and public commitments alone are not enough. Companies now need to prioritise ‘showing’ not ‘telling’ how their practices and processes on farm animal welfare are driving improvements in their operations and supply chains on the ground.”
He continued: “The BBFAW investor collaboration members and investor statement signatories will encourage companies to close the gap between process and impact in order to support transparent engagement, enable the effective assessment of companies within responsible investment selection processes, and identify investment opportunities within the food sector.”
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Amanda Williams
Director of Communications
Chronos Sustainability (BBFAW Secretariat)
T: 020 8050 5103
amanda@chronossustainability.com
Quotes from investors:
NEI Investments:
Michela Gregory Director, ESG Services, said:
“BBFAW has been a reliable resource for us, as a responsible investor, on the transparency and performance of food companies on farm animal welfare. We’ve also valued BBFAW’s approach of leveraging the benchmark results by leaning into further dialogues with companies to encourage corporate efforts on farm animal welfare. We look forward to continued collaboration with BBFAW and other investors, through their Global Investor Collaboration on Farm Animal Welfare.”
Australian Ethical:
Amanda Richman, Ethics Analyst, Australian Ethical, said:
“Changing consumer attitudes, supply chain resiliency, and ethical considerations all make farm animal welfare a critical issue for food companies to manage. The Covid-19 pandemic has further increased the scrutiny on practices in the food system. The annual BBFAW benchmark is a valuable tool in enabling us to evaluate, and engage on, the farm animal welfare practices and performance of food companies in our investments.”
Æquo:
“Animal welfare issues take an important place in the public space and particularly among consumers. It is important that companies manage the risks and opportunities associated with this issue adequately. The BBFAW represents a unique initiative that encourages companies to improve the quality of their policies, practices and disclosure on this subject.”
Notes to Editors:
1. The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) is the globally recognised investor framework for assessing the quality of companies’ practices, processes and performance on farm animal welfare. In addition, BBFAW maintains the Global Investor Statement on Farm Animal Welfare and convenes the Global Investor Collaboration on Farm Animal Welfare, a collaborative engagement between major institutional investors and food companies on the issue of farm animal welfare.
2. The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare, founded in 2012, is supported by its founding partners, Compassion in World Farming and World Animal Protection.
3. BBFAW provides an annual, independent assessment of farm animal welfare management and performance in global food companies. It enables investors, companies, NGOs and other stakeholders to understand corporate practice and performance on farm animal welfare. More information on the programme can be found at www.bbfaw.com.
4. Through the annual benchmark, extensive engagement programmes with investors and with companies, and the production of guidance and other materials for companies and investors, BBFAW has driven higher farm animal welfare standards across the world’s leading food businesses.
5. BBFAW 2020 is the ninth annual report from the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare. It analyses the farm animal welfare management and performance of 150 of the world’s largest food companies, across 37 distinct, objective criteria. As such, it is the most authoritative and comprehensive global account of corporate practice on farm animal welfare.
6. The 2020 benchmark covers 150 global food companies across 23 countries: 52 retailers and wholesalers, 63 producers and manufacturers, and 35 restaurants and bars. It includes listed and non-listed companies.
7. Companies were measured on their approach to managing farm animal welfare in four areas: (1) Management Commitment, (2) Governance and Management, (3) Innovation and Leadership, and (4) Performance Reporting and Impact.
8. In 2020, BBFAW introduced an Impact Rating for the first time to give further detail on the ten performance impact questions. Eight of these questions assess companies on species-specific performance for the most numerously sourced animals, excluding fish. The other two questions focus on pre-slaughter stunning and long-distance live transportation.
9. Company assessments were based on information published by companies on the date of their assessments. All companies were assessed during the period between 1st October to 30 November 2020.
10. The number of companies that are considered to have farm animal welfare as an integral part of their business strategy has grown significantly over the eight benchmark cycles, from three (out of 68) in 2012 to 23 (out of 150) in 2020.
11. The company-by-company results are presented in Attachment 1 to this media release.
12. Cranswick, Marks & Spencer, Noble Foods and Waitrose retain their Tier 1 position in 2020.
13. Some 23 of the 150 companies assessed in 2020 improved by at least one tier in the 2020 benchmark. These companies are:
Ahold Delhaize
Auchan Holding
Barilla
Bimbo
BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings
Carrefour SA
Charoen Pokphand Foods
Cooke Seafood
Cooperativa Centrale Aurora Alimentos
Fonterra
IKEA (Inter Ikea Group)
Jeronimo Martins
KraftHeinz
Lidl Stiftung & Company
Marfrig Global Foods
Mars Inc
Meiji Holdings
Minerva Foods
Papa John’s Pizza
Schwarz Unternehmens Treuhand KG/Kaufland
Unilever NV
US Foods
Woolworths Group
14. In the 2020 benchmark, 15 companies fell by at least one tier, a figure that is broadly in line with previous years. These are: ALDI Süd, Aramark Corporation, Chipotle Mexican Grill, CKE Restaurants, Coop Group (Switzerland)/Coop Genossenschaft, General Mills Inc, ICA Gruppen AB, Metro AG, Migros, Perdue Farms, Publix Super Markets Inc, SSP Group, Subway/Doctor’s Associates, Terrena Group, UNFI.
More information on the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare programme can be found at www.bbfaw.com
ENDS ALL
[1] US$2.5 trillion combined retail revenue of BBFAW retailers and wholesalers; US$500 billion combined revenue of BBFAW producers and processors; US$220 billion combined revenues of BBFAW restaurants and bars.