Top US food companies among those ranked in latest BBFAW report

Published 4/2/2020

Today, the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW)—the leading global measure of policy commitment, performance, and disclosure on animal welfare in food companies—launched its eighth annual report, a comprehensive look at how 150 of the world’s leading food companies managed and reported their farm animal welfare practices in 2019.

BBFAW, founded in 2012 and supported by leading animal welfare organizations Compassion in World Farming and World Animal Protection, is the globally-recognized investor framework that assesses the quality of companies’ practices, processes, and performance on farm animal welfare.

Some US-specific highlights in this year’s BBFAW report include:

• US-based companies Chipotle, Sysco, Campbell's Soup, Darden, General Mills, Subway, and Nestlé all moved up at least one tier.
• Chipotle achieved a Tier 2 ranking, joining Cargill and Perdue Farms—both of which retained their high position in this year’s report.
• Dunkin Brands, Kraft Heinz, and Mondelez International each moved down one tier since last year’s assessment.
• Unfortunately, many US-based food businesses still appear in the lowest two tiers of the Benchmark, indicating that farm animal welfare is either not yet acknowledged as a business issue or has yet to be formally implemented into business processes. These companies include well-known brands such as Chik-fil-A, Amazon (parent company of Whole Foods Market), Starbucks, and Sanderson Farms.

About this year's report, Philip Lymbery, Global CEO at Compassion in World Farming, said:

For the last eight years, the Benchmark has been instrumental in encouraging global food businesses to adopt new policies on farm animal welfare. Now, the onus is on companies demonstrating strong performance to implement those policies, by for example, making sure that cage-free systems are fit for purpose and delivered in a timely fashion.

Yael Cypers, Manager, Food with Integrity at Chipotle, commented:

At Chipotle, we’re motivated by the belief that how food is raised has a profound effect on its taste. Our strict Food With Integrity standards ensure we’re working with suppliers who go above and beyond when caring for farm animals. Over the past year, we’ve worked tirelessly to expand the influence of these practices across our network of suppliers and a Tier 2 score, the company’s highest to date, is true testament to our efforts. Acknowledgement from BBFAW goes a long way towards our mission of cultivating a better world and we’re excited to continue down this path.

Beyond the individual company rankings, BBFAW 2019 reports that 60 percent of the world’s leading food companies now have formal farm animal welfare policies and appropriate management processes for ensuring they are effectively deployed internally and through supply chains. However, it also warns that progress is still too slow, with 40 percent of companies still appearing in the bottom tiers—meaning they are providing little or no information about how they are managing the risks and opportunities associated with farm animal welfare.

Explore the full report at bbfaw.com.