Europe's food industry to celebrate excellence in animal welfare

Compassion in World Farming will play host to some of Europe’s top food manufacturers, retailers and producers in Paris on Thursday 20 October 2011.

The world’s leading animal welfare organisation will present the 2011 Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards to those paving the way for better animal welfare in the food industry.

This year’s European Awards are the biggest yet for Compassion in World Farming, who will be handing out awards in three categories: the Good Egg, Good Chicken, Good Dairy Awards which are new this year, plus for this year only, a Leadership Award in Pig Welfare The awards recognise commitment to improving the lives of animals by sourcing only high welfare eggs, chicken, pig meat or dairy produce.

More than 40 organisations from eight countries including France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland, will receive awards this year. These award winners are set to improve the lives of millions of hens, chickens, pigs and dairy cows across Europe, as a result of their policies.

Launched in 2007, Compassion in World Farming’s Food Business Team has pioneered a unique partnership approach – working with the European food industry to encourage and reward commitment, transparency, performance and innovation in the field of animal welfare.

Katy Read, Head of Food Business at Compassion in World Farming said: ’We’re delighted to see so many companies across Europe engaging with us and making steps to improve the lives of millions of farm animals. Such a range of award winners in so many countries demonstrates how important animal welfare is across the continent. These awards are a vital tool that allow us to engage and converse with organisations and is proving to be very successful in helping us forge strong relationships with the food industry."