Nestlé co-founds GCAW to advance global food supply chain standards

Nestlé has collaborated with six other food companies to form the Global Coalition for Animal Welfare (GCAW) in a bid to enhance standards throughout the global food supply chain.

The food industry-led GCAW collaboration brings together a number of major companies and animal welfare experts based worldwide.

The coalition intends work towards improving animal standards at a rate that meets the growing consumer demand for food products that come from animals reared in systems that promote good welfare.

Nestlé intends to step up its efforts to collectively address the existing systemic barriers by collaborating with like-minded stakeholders and sharing best practices, as well as accelerating the development of standards and progress regarding key welfare issues.

GCAW currently intends to publish a collective action agenda during the first half of 2019, which will focus on five priority work streams, including cage-free policies and improved broiler chicken welfare.

Nestlé previously announced last year that it will aim to use only cage-free eggs as ingredients in all its food products worldwide by 2025.

The company also pledged to improve conditions for the chickens raised to provide meat ingredients across its businesses in the US.

Nestlé’s involvement with GCAW is said to support its continued commitment to improving farm animal welfare.

The company aims to improve the quality of life of its animals by ensuring optimum welfare standards across its supply chain.

Nestlé USA, along with Danone North America, Mars and Unilever United States, previously launched the Sustainable Food Policy Alliance earlier this month.

The alliance will focus on furthering public policies that responsibly influence people’s food choices and its impact on their health, as well as their effect on wider communities and the planet as a whole.