Press release: 30th April 2009
Be loud and proud of your animal welfare credentials
RSPCA calls on supermarkets and smaller food retailers to enter the 2009 Good Business Awards
Food retailers - large and small - are being urged to enter this year's RSPCA Good Business Awards, which recognise ethical business approaches to animal welfare.
The RSPCA is looking to reward food retailers that set out to source their meat, fish, dairy products and eggs from suppliers that maintain higher animal welfare standards, covering living conditions, transport, slaughter methods, labelling and farm inspection. It is free to enter, and companies can go to www.rspcagoodbusinessawards.com to download an entry form.
Research¹ by the RSPCA's food labelling scheme Freedom Food has found that people are choosing higher welfare food produce. 56% of respondents said they regularly choose higher welfare eggs and 39% choose higher welfare labelled chicken. In fact, four out of ten people (41%) who buy eggs and chicken said they are now more likely to let animal welfare influence their choice of food compared to five years ago.
David Bowles, RSPCA Head of External Affairs says: "Our research has shown that there is a growing consumer demand for higher welfare products, which does not seem to have been greatly been affected by the economic downturn. There is still a real demand for cruelty-free dairy, egg, meat and fish produce.
"This is the fifth year of the Good Business Awards and we want to reward the efforts being made by food retailers - both large and small - that go the extra mile to promote animal welfare and recognise that consumers haven't left behind their values in a quest for value."
New for the food retail category - in association with The Independent - is the RSPCA People's Choice Supermarket award to recognise the British supermarket that is making the biggest strides to improve animal welfare standards. The winner of this award will be chosen through a public vote by readers of The Independent in August 2009.
Last year's winners, for achieving higher standards for animal welfare, were Marks & Spencer in the supermarket category and Pepperfield Farm from Dalton-on-Tees in the small retailer category. The Co-operative was also given a special lifetime achievement award for its wide and continued commitment to ethical retailing.
Richard Johnson, award judge and journalist, says: "TV coverage on the plight of chickens and pigs has had a profound effect on the public. Customers want to buy from retailers who make being animal-friendly easy by using suppliers rear their animals humanely. Retailers that are doing this, or seeking to, deserve our support and recognition. We hope to see more entries than ever before this year."
Winners will be promoted on the RSPCA Good Business Awards website and achievements will be detailed in an ethical consumer guide to choosing higher welfare companies.
Entrants this year will be judged on the basis of their practices in the following areas:
Welfare of beef, dairy cattle, chickens bred for meat, laying hens, pigs, sheep and farmed fish
Live transport of animals
Commitment to only selling meat from animals that have been pre-stunned before slaughter
Labelling
Import of meat and eggs from other countries
Farm inspection
Commitment to not selling foie gras
Commitment to not selling white veal
Aspirations to phase out the sale of whole eggs from cage systems
Entry questionnaires can be downloaded from www.rspcagoodbusinessawards.com or by contacting the RSPCA Good Business Awards team on 0300 123 0488 or awards@rspca.org.uk. The entry deadline is 5pm on 30 June 2009.
The RSPCA Good Business Awards evening soiree will will be held at One Marylebone, London on 7 October 2009.
For media enquiries, please contact Vaneetha Balasubramaniam or Nicki Akers at 77PR on 0207 492 0977. Email vaneetha.b@77pr.co.uk or nicki.akers@77pr.co.uk or the RSPCA press office on 0300 123 0244 or press@rspca.org.uk.
Find out more about this year's winners.
Find out how your company can be part of the RSPCA Good Business Awards 20010
Notes to editors:
1. Results based on YouGov research carried out amongst 2,000 UK adults in June 2008.
2. The judging panel for the food category comprises: Richard Johnson, presenter of the BBC's Full On Food, judge on ITV's Taste the Nation and regular contributor to the Food Programme on Radio 4; Andrew Opie, food policy director, British Retail Consortium; Dr Geoff Spriegel, independent food consultant; and Professor John Webster, Professor Emeritus at Bristol University.
3. The Supermarket - People's Choice Award will be chosen by the public, who will be able to cast their vote either on line, by text or by post. Supermarkets that enter for the Awards will be assessed by the judges who will select a shortlist of the companies that have the best animal welfare policies. These will then be put forward in August for the public to vote on by mid September. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony.
About the Good Business Awards
The RSPCA Good Business Awards recognise the achievements of companies in the cosmetics, fashion and food industries to attain higher standards of animal welfare by implementing sustainable policies and practice
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Facing Up To The Welfare Challenge
Animal Welfare Can Be Fashionable
