Our progress so far
Our approach
Treating animals well and keeping them healthy is not just the right thing to do, it also makes good business sense. Healthy, well-managed animals are more likely to deliver better-tasting, higher-quality products that our customers enjoy.
How we measure and manage this can be challenging, because different people take an interest in animal welfare from different perspectives.
This can leave farmers with a long list of specific, systematic boxes they have to tick which don’t give them the freedom to try new technologies and ways of working – things which could help us take even better care of our animals.
This is why we work with our farmers to focus primarily on ‘welfare outcomes’.
What are welfare outcomes?
Welfare outcomes are measurements which relate directly to the animals to ensure their needs are being met. These are broken down into Key Welfare Indicators, which have been individually created for each of the species we’re supplied with.
Our farmers have to show us they’re achieving these indicators by demonstrating good management practices like high standards of housing facilities, consistent access to feed, water and environmental enrichment. The crucial point here being we don’t dictate exactly how they achieve this. We let the animals’ health, physical condition, performance and behaviour speak for itself.
This ‘measure and manage’ approach allows us to benchmark performance and share best practice.
Does it work?
We’re encouraged by the progress our farmers have made and continue to support them by working with experts in animal health & welfare, sharing best practice and supporting research in this field.
More on health and welfare outcomes