Three supermarkets nominated for RSPCA awards
Three supermarket groups that have demonstrated their commitment to free range eggs have been shortlisted for an annual award presented by the RSPCA.
The Co-operative, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s have all been nominated for the People’s Choice Supermarket Award, which enables members of the public to vote for the major retailer that they think has done most to raise the standard of animal welfare. The award is part of the annual RSPCA Good Business Awards and the result will be announced this month.
It will be three in a row for the Co-operative if it wins the title this year. The chain was presented with the award in both 2009 and 2010. Last year it secured 45 per cent of the 14,500 votes cast during polling, which is carried out either by text or by online voting on the web site of the Independent newspaper. The Co-operative said it was delighted to have been recognised yet again for its commitment to animal welfare.
"We are delighted to have been selected as a finalist for the RSPCA People’s Choice Supermarket Award," said Sean Toal, Co-operative Food’s commercial director. "Being shortlisted yet again is a fantastic endorsement of our continuing work to raise animal welfare standards and to offer higher welfare meat and poultry products across our 2,800 plus food stores nationwide. We have made some great strides this year in the animal welfare arena, notably the conversion of all of our fresh pork and sausages to our higher-welfare Elmwood standard."
All the Co-operative’s whole eggs are Freedom Food free range or organic. It was the first retailer to sell RSPCA Freedom Food when it adopted the standard in 1994. On top of its commitment to free range shell eggs, the Co-operative also ensures that all ingredient eggs in its own brand range are free range.
The retailer has also been recognised for selling higher welfare poultry and for its own brand beef, which is British and reared outdoors on pasture. No intensively reared indoor beef is sold in Co-operative stores.
Sainsbury’s became the first major retailer to stop selling shell eggs from cage hens in 2009, and the supermarket is committed to moving out of cage eggs across all of its own brand ingredients by 2012. Sainsbury’s has its own Woodland brand, promoting the freedom to roam outside, and it sells 62 per cent of all Freedom Food in the United Kingdom.
The supermarket is also committed to higher welfare chicken – it sells more Freedom Food chicken than the combined total of all other UK retailers. It has said that all fresh chicken will be higher welfare by end of 2015
Marks & Spencer has also been recognised for its commitment to free range eggs. It promotes all its whole and ingredient eggs as free range.
As well as higher welfare eggs, M & S also sells higher welfare Oakham chicken. Oakham is slower grown in spacious barns with an enriched environment. The company has offered barn and free range chicken since 2002. Its pork is outdoor bred and free range. All liquid and cafe milk is from producers in the M&S Dairy Health & Welfare programme.
A fourth shortlisted retailer is Whole Foods Market, which has been nominated for its independently audited five-step animal welfare programme, communicated to customers in-store; for working directly with farmers to help them achieve the highest standards on the five-step programme; for its belief that food should be produced by people who care about higher animal welfare; and for its Freedom Food labelled produce sold in all stores.
The RSPCA says it launched the People’s Choice Supermarket Award to encourage ethical consumers to take action and spread the word about what their favourite large retailer was doing to help raise standards of animal welfare.
Finalists for the award are chosen by a panel of expert judges, based on each retailer’s commitment to achieving the highest standards of animal welfare, although the final decision is made by members of the public who take part in the voting process.
Food and drink journalist and TV presenter Richard Johnson, who is one of the judges in the food category, said, "For me, the RSPCA Good Business Awards are all about going the extra mile and recognising the businesses that are doing something a little bit more - and a little bit different - from the rest.
"From this year’s entries, it’s clear that it now makes good business sense to improve animal welfare. It makes a real point of difference in a very competitive market place.
"The People’s Choice Award is a real chance for consumers to reward the supermarkets they believe have made the biggest improvements to animal welfare."
The RSPCA Good Business Awards have been running since 2005. They are designed to reward the best of British business in terms of animal welfare and they cover both the food and fashion industries. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in London.
