Food Giants Join Global Coalition for Animal Welfare
MEDIA RELEASE
FOOD GIANTS JOIN GLOBAL COALITION FOR ANIMAL WELFARE TO ADVANCE ANIMAL WELFARE IN GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS
GCAW marks second anniversary with five new members: Tesco, Tyson Foods, Maple Leaf Foods, The Cheesecake Factory and Hilton Food Group
London, New York, Toronto, 28 October 2020: The Global Coalition for Animal Welfare (GCAW), the world’s first industry-led collaboration aimed at advancing animal welfare standards throughout the global food supply chain, is marking its second anniversary with the addition of five new members.
Tesco plc (LON: TSCO, “Tesco”) Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN “Tyson” ), Maple Leaf Foods, Inc. (TSX: MFI), The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated (NASDAQ: CAKE) and Hilton Food Group plc (LON: HFG) join GCAW with a shared commitment to work pre-competitively to address systemic barriers to improving animal welfare and drive progress on key welfare issues.
GCAW is a targeted, action-oriented, multi-stakeholder platform for the advancement of farm animal welfare globally. The new members join GCAW’s seven founding companies: Aramark, Compass Group, Elior Group, IKEA Food Services, Nestlé, Sodexo and Unilever, who are themselves among the largest names in global food production and food service. The newly expanded coalition of twelve leading food companies is responsible for approximately $390 billion in combined revenues[1].
Nicky Amos, Managing Director of Chronos Sustainability and Executive Director of GCAW, said: “Commercial animal production systems are complex and variable. It is therefore vital that food companies come together to address systemic barriers to improving the welfare of the 70 billion animals farmed for food every year.”
She added: “With GCAW members now representing more of the world’s largest companies in food retail, food production and manufacturing, and food service, GCAW can galvanise know-how and welfare expertise to develop an industry-led approach to transforming the welfare of the most farmed species, including laying hens, broiler chickens and pigs.”
Dr Birte Nielsen, Independent Chair of GCAW said: “As GCAW enters the next stage of its development, knowing that world-leading food businesses have the commitment, confidence and courage to come together to collaborate on animal welfare is exciting and encouraging in equal measure. It is testament to the reality and urgency of farm animal welfare in global supply chains. All credit to the founding principles of GCAW and its member organisations. On behalf of GCAW, its founding members and secretariat, I extend the warmest of welcomes to the newest members.”
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For further information
Amanda Williams, Director of Communications, Chronos Sustainability
amanda@chronossustainabilty.com
+44 7534 702797
Dr Nathan Rhys Williams MRCVS, Senior Programme Manager, Chronos Sustainability
Nathan@chronossustainability.com
+44 7958 024782
Notes to Editors
About GCAW
1. The Global Coalition for Animal Welfare (GCAW) is the world’s first food industry-led initiative aimed at advancing animal welfare globally. Launched in October 2018, the global platform unites major companies and animal welfare experts in improving animal welfare standards at scale and in meeting consumer demand for food products from animals reared in systems that promote good welfare.
2. GCAW is an initiative initially proposed by Sodexo, and launched in October 2018. Its seven founding member companies are among the largest names in global food production and food service: Aramark, Compass Group, Elior Group, IKEA Food Services, Nestlé, Sodexo and Unilever.
3. The five new GCAW members are as follows, taking the total number of members to 12:
Tesco plc is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer with headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom. As a leading retailer, with over 400,000 colleagues, Tesco serves millions of customers every week, in stores and online.
Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. and annually exports the largest percentage of beef out of the United States.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a producer of food products under leading brands including Maple Leaf®, Maple Leaf Prime®, Maple Leaf Natural Selections®, Schneiders®, Schneiders® Country Naturals®, Mina®, Greenfield Natural Meat Co.™, Lightlife®, Field Roast Grain Meat Co.™ and Swift®. The Company is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is a leader in experiential dining and a producer of quality cheesecakes and baked products. The company owns and operates 295 restaurants throughout the United States and Canada under brands including The Cheesecake Factory®, North Italia® and a collection within the Fox Restaurant Concepts subsidiary.
Hilton Food Group plc is the leading specialist international food packing business supplying major international retailers. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
4. GCAW’s principle objectives are to:
- Provide a platform for food companies to work more closely with farm animal welfare experts to identify common objectives and drive improvements.
- Prioritize welfare issues and developing roadmaps for industry change while supporting producers in implementing strong animal welfare practices.
- Advance animal welfare knowledge globally through industry insights, bespoke research and partnerships for action.
5. GCAW members are currently working on three priority workstreams. These focus on:
(i) Laying Hen Welfare
(ii) Broiler Chicken Welfare
(iii) Pig Welfare
6. In September 2020 GCAW announced the appointment of Dr Birte Nielsen as Independent Chair.
About GCAW’s Independent Chair, Dr Birte L Neilsen
Dr Birte L Nielsen is the Assistant Scientific Director of UFAW –the International Animal Welfare Science Society –and the Humane Slaughter Association and Chair of the Global Coalition for Animal Welfare.
For nearly three decades, she has carried out work in farm animal welfare through research in basic and applied ethology, the latter also including laboratory animals. Birte has worked with and published on a variety of species, including pigs, cows, chickens, horses, and rats.
Birte has participated in numerous expert panels and working groups, including chairing the Danish Animal Welfare Council, and as member of an FAO expert panel as well as the Animal Welfare working group at the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (Anses). She has also served as President of the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE), and as President of the Ethics Committee for the use of Animals in Research (Comethea) for INRAE-Jouy and AgroParisTech.
About Chronos Sustainability, GCAW secretariat
Chronos Sustainability is an international team of professionals with a track record of delivering transformative, systemic change in the social and environmental performance of key industry sectors. Chronos works in partnership with institutional investors, industry networks, companies, governments, regulators and civil society organisations on issues as diverse as climate change, responsible investment, oceans management, animal welfare and human rights. In 2020, Environmental Finance named Chronos winners of the ESG Initiative of the Year at its annual Responsible Investment Awards.
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[1] Approx $388.2 billion (USD) in combined revenues for financial year 2019. Source: GCAW member company annual reports.