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Danone's commitment to animal welfare has been recognised twice

08/04/2019

  • AENOR has certified Danone Iberia's Animal Welfare Protocol as the company meets the requirements of the certification scheme based on the European Welfare Quality® Animal Welfare Standard.
  • Currently, the Danone Group works to safeguard animal welfare in the countries in which it operates.
  • Within Europe, this Animal Welfare protocol, which has been created in conjunction with Compassion in World Farming and the IRTA, has already been implemented in Spain and is gradually being implemented in the countries where the Danone Group is present and collects milk.



8 April 2019. Danone's commitment to animal welfare has been recognised twice, as the company has put much more effort into this area than is required by industry standards. AENOR has certified Danone's Animal Welfare Protocol, which has been created in conjunction with Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), the leading organisation for farm animal welfare, and the Instituto de Investigación y Tecnologías Agroalimentarias [Institute for Research and Technology in Food and Agriculture] (IRTA).

In the words of Antoni Bandrés, Director of Milk Management at Danone Iberia, "this certification has been obtained in recognition of work well done through a long relationship with farmers, Danone's experts and external specialists".AENOR also acknowledges that Danone has met the requirements of the certification scheme based on the European Welfare Quality® Standard for Animal Welfare under the supervision of the Institute for Research and Technology in Food and Agriculture (IRTA), which is a world leader in this area.

In order to award both these certificates, AENOR has performed an exhaustive audit based on an assessment of four principles: good feeding, good housing, good health and appropriate behaviour, all in line with the needs of the species. David Verano, AENOR's Director of the Agrifood Industry and Distribution, points out that both certifications recognise that "Danone has successfully applied the highest animal welfare standards in all the farms in which it operates and has also ensured consumers that all the milk directly collected from its farms complies with the requirements of this certification."

In order to develop its Animal Welfare Protocol, Danone has collaborated with Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), which is a charity that works to ensure that farm animals are treated with compassion and respect. Inés Ajuda, a Research Manager at CIWF, says that animal welfare plays an important role in sustainability and that "Danone has demonstrated its commitment to this matter.This responsibility is reflected in the results of the 2018 Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) report, which we contribute to, where the Danone Group came second out of six entities in this global ranking system, improving on its position last year".

Both standards, Danone's own protocol and the European Welfare Quality® scheme for Animal Welfare, have been developed with the participation of the IRTA, which is a leading authority on animal welfare issues throughout the world. The Institute for Research and Technology in Food and Agriculture works to promote agrifood technology research and development in order to improve sustainability. With this in mind, the IRTA's Manager of Animal Production, Carles Rosell states that, "animal welfare has a direct impact on sustainability, as it improves the efficiency of both farm production and the food chain.Furthermore, consumers are aware of the ethical implications of this area and are calling on companies to make a commitment to it".