The second Business Benchmark Report, published today and produced with Compassion in World Farming and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), has identified seven companies with a leadership position in reporting farm animal welfare policies.
Rory Sullivan, expert advisor to the Business Benchmark, said: “A key conclusion is that farm animal welfare continues to be a risk that many companies in the food industry are either not effectively managing or not properly reporting. The fact that over half of the companies provide little or no information on their approach suggests that farm animal welfare remains a relatively immature business issue.”
Two companies that have demonstrated particular leadership in this area are the Coop Group (Switzerland) and Marks & Spencer, both of whom leapt from Tier 3 in the 2012 company ranking to be the two top ranking companies in Tier 1 in 2013.
“While 71% of food companies acknowledge farm animal welfare as a business issue, almost half have yet to formalise their approach to managing the issue,” said programme director Nicky Amos. “This indicates that farm animal welfare is lagging behind other issues on the corporate responsibility agenda.”
I have a feeling that this may be changing, however, so watch this space for more updates in this critical ethical arena.
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