Wisag Catering and Primus Service will raise their animal welfare standards for broiler chickens. After dialogs with the Albert Schweitzer Foundation, both catering companies have decided to join the European Chicken Commitment and meet its requirements by 2026. With these two major companies joining in, more than half of the German top ten catering companies as well as numerous companies from other branches of the food industry are now supporting the commitment for higher animal welfare standards.
»We are very happy that Wisag and Primus will improve the conditions under which their broiler chickens are currently being raised. By doing so, they are two of seven pioneering companies in their industry«, says Luisa Böhle, corporate relations manager at Albert Schweitzer Foundation. »Some of the biggest players in the food service and food industry sector are already supporting our commitment, such as Compass Group, Nestlé or Kentucky Fried Chicken. Companies that don’t want to lag behind need to start taking responsibility for the conditions under which animals are being raised.«
Less overbreeding, less suffering
The European Chicken Commitment includes requirements regarding more space, more manipulable material and natural light in sheds as well as less stressful but more efficient stunning methods before slaughter and the transition to slower growing breeding lines. This way, the commitment tackles health issues that overbred chickens usually suffer from. Third-party audits ensure that the requirements are being met.
You can find Wisag Catering’s commitment here and Primus Service’s commitment here (both in German).
The European Chicken Commitment
In order to reduce the worst problems in the chicken breeding industry, the Albert Schweitzer Foundation and about 30 further animal protection groups have formulated the European Chicken Commitment. They are working towards the implementation of higher minimum standards for so-called broiler chickens in all of Europe.
Approximately 250 companies from the USA and Europe have already committed themselves to fulfill the requirements. The supporters are companies from various branches of the food service and food industry sector. You can find out more about the European Chicken Commitment here.