Within the EU, improved animal welfare legislation has been on the playing cards because the Commission first announced its Farm to Fork Approach.
Even even supposing growth has been made, some Member States have sought to head further and introduce their earn nationwide measures. As an illustration, the culling of male chicks after birth is allowed in most EU countries nonetheless now not all. This creates an uneven level of animal welfare across Member States.
In response, the European Individual Organisation (BEUC) has sought to secure out user appetite for improved animal welfare authorized tricks across meat and fish. Preliminary findings suggest shoppers plan want greater animal welfare, nonetheless are they willing to pay for it?
Customers want greater animal welfare and labels to compare
BEUC and connected organisations surveyed a entire of 8,000 people across eight countries (1,000 people per nation): Belgium, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
The greatest takeway became that virtually 90% of shoppers toughen recent authorized tricks to enhance the welfare of farmed animals in the EU, similar to offering more living role and banning cage programs.
The leer also published that shoppers desire to know more about how farmed animals are reared and want honest labelling. Certainly 72% of respondents said they wat manner of production labelling to be prolonged to other products previous eggs.
“With 9 in 10 shoppers supporting recent authorized tricks for better animal welfare, our leer confirms that the technique we take care of animals raised for food matters to people. It is excessive time the EU Commission delivered on its promises to revise EU authorized tricks on farm animal welfare,” said Monique Goyens, director identical old of BEUC.
Outcomes also suggest shoppers have low have faith in animal welfare claims by companies and 84% would react negatively to ‘welfare-washing’ – whereby operators suggest they’ve greater animal welfare standards than is the case.
“Factual love it exists for eggs, three in four shoppers would prefer knowledge about how the animals had been raised on products love meat and dairy, as they truly feel they plan now not know sufficient,” said Goyens. “On the replacement hand, few of them have faith companies’ claims on how neatly they like animals. Commerce ought to light judge twice earlier than participating in ‘animal welfare-washing’, because it may perhaps most likely have to tarnish their brands’ reputation for a extraordinarily very long time.”
Are shoppers willing to pay for better welfare for cattle?
In apply, bettering animal welfare standards doesn’t map low-tag. This begs the depend upon: who ought to light pay?
No longer all needs to be lined by farmers, fixed with EU respondents. A complete of 74% of leer contributors said they would prefer the EU to present funds to farmers to enforce greater welfare standards. Findings also urged that if greater animal welfare products had been more costly, then shoppers had been willing to pay – to varying levels.
No subject this, BEUC stressed out that EU and nationwide governments desire to be sure the value of this transition are equitably shared and now not borne by shoppers handiest. “When shifting against greater animal welfare standards, the EU and governments desire to be sure the prices of this transition are equitably shared across the value chain and now not borne by shoppers handiest,” said BEUC’s Goyens.
“Nor ought to light farmers be the ones bearing the brunt. Most shoppers would prefer that the EU funds farmers to enhance welfare practices and agree that food imports ought to light trail by the the same rules.”
UK overview printed in 2023 similarly found that some, nonetheless now not all shoppers are willing to pay for greater animal welfare. Amongst tag relaxed shoppers, willingness to pay additional for an animal welfare is ‘negligible’. Factual over half of shoppers tumble into the ‘tag relaxed’ class.