Press release: 30th April 2009
Rewarding Commitment To Animal Welfare
RSPCA calls on companies to enter the 2009 Good Business Awards
The RSPCA is calling on ethically minded companies around the UK to enter the 2009 Good Business Awards, which recognise ethical business approaches to animal welfare in the food, fashion and cosmetics industries.
This follows growing consumer demand for products that have been made with animal welfare in mind. New RSPCA research by Ipsos MORI¹ has found that 59% of British consumers see animal welfare as an important ethical issue to consider when buying a product, up from 48% two years ago. Human rights (58%), fair trade goods (51%) and protecting the environment (50%) are also considered important ethical issues that should be considered in addition to factors such as price and quality.
The RSPCA is looking to reward companies that are striving to improve animal welfare policies. It is free to enter, and companies can go to www.rspcagoodbusinessawards.com to download an entry form.
A brand new award for 2009 is the RSPCA People's Choice Supermarket award, in association with The Independent. This will be the first time that the RSPCA has called on members of the public to cast their vote for the Good Business Awards. The public voting will go live in August, once the shortlisted supermarkets have been announced.
New for the restaurant category - in association with CatererSearch.com - is a pub award to recognise the growing number of pubs across the country that feature quality fish, meat and dairy produce on their menu, which has been sourced to the highest welfare standards.
David Bowles, RSPCA Head of External Affairs, says: "In the past year retailers have responded to a demand for welfare-friendly fashion. Customers need to be sure the fur they are buying is definitely fake, and the animal whose skin was used to make their leather handbag was kept, transported and slaughtered humanely.
"This is the fifth year of the Good Business Awards and we want to reward the efforts being made by companies - both large and small - that go the extra mile to promote animal welfare and recognise that consumers haven' left behind their ethical beliefs in a quest for value."
One of the fashion judges³, designer Wayne Hemingway, says: "The importance placed on animal welfare in the fashion industry is especially pressing at present given the worrying return of fur to the catwalks at the recent Autumn/Winter '09 shows. However, we are beginning to see the tide turn away from disposable fashion and towards a more sustainable focus on quality and ethics.
"Many more of today's shoppers are concerned about the origin of the items they purchase, and how they were produced. There is therefore now a real need for the fashion industry to shape up, shun fur and focus on policies regarding the sourcing of leather/skins and merino wool."
One of the food judges³, TV journalist and presenter, Richard Johnson says: "TV coverage on the plight of chickens and pigs has had a profound effect on the public. From farm to fork, customers want to be informed about the food they buy, and want to feel assured that the shops and restaurants they buy from are using suppliers who rear their animals with humanity. Companies that are doing this, or seeking to, deserve our support and recognition. We hope to see more entries than ever before this year."
Last year's winners for achieving higher standards of animal welfare included McDonald's in the restaurant chain category - recognised for its improved animal welfare policies - and the Norway Inn, Truro, which won best independent restaurant. In the fashion category Izzy Lane picked up the award for small fashion retailer, and M&S in the large retailer category. In cosmetics, male grooming firm Bulldog picked up the award for best small cosmetics company, and The Body Shop for large cosmetics firm. M&S also picked up the best supermarket award, and The Co-operative (Co-op) picked up a lifetime achievement award.All entries for the 22009 awards will be judged by an independent panel of industry experts. 3 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.
Entry forms and guidelines 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 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 1,012 face-to-face interviews conducted in-home with adults aged 15+ in Great Britain on Ipsos MORI's weekly omnibus. Fieldwork was conducted from 20 - 26 February 2009. The detailed results of this research for the RSPCA can be found on Ipsos MORI's website: www.ipsos-mori.com.
2. The fashion category is in association with Drapers, and the cosmetics category is in association with Soap, Perfumery and Cosmetics magazine and the restaurants category is in association with CaterSearch.com. The Supermarket People's Choice Award is in association with The Independent.
3. Industry judges, by award category:
Food: Andrew Opie, Director of food and consumer policy at the British Retail Consortium; Richard Johnson, journalist and TV presenter; Dr Geoff Spriegel, food industry consultant and former technical director at Sainsbury's; and John Webster, Professor Emeritus at the University of Bristol where he established a unit for the study of animal behaviour and welfare.
Fashion: Lisa Armstrong, Fashion Editor of the Times; Wayne Hemingway, designer and co-founder of Red or Dead; and Shelly Vella, Fashion Director of Cosmopolitan magazine.
Cosmetics: consultant Gerard Duvé MSc who is secretary to the trustees for the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME), and former head of technical services at Superdrug; and Clare Henderson, Editor of Soap, Perfumery and Cosmetics magazine.
4. Entrants will be judged on the basis of their practices in the following areas:
Cosmetics
The judges will be looking for cosmetics companies who can:
Ensure that no ingredients used in cosmetics products were tested on animals after a fixed cut off date, which is no later than 11 March 2009.
Demonstrate a set of robust systems to check that suppliers operate to the same standard.
Demonstrate a proactive approach to achieving a reduction in animal use, including funding into alternatives.
Show transparent policies and demonstrate a willingness to share data and raise the profile of animal welfare.
Demonstrate a commitment to the '3R's concept' - replacement, reduction and refinement of animal use.
Fashion
Entrants this year will be judged on the basis of their practices in the following areas:
Commitment to not using or selling Karakul lambskin pelts
Fur-free policies
Policies on the sale of exotic skins
Policies on the sourcing of merino wool
Sourcing and traceability of leather including cow, sheep or pig hide
Innovation over the past 12 months in relation to animal welfare
Company aspirations regarding animal welfare
Labelling and communicating policies to customers
Food
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 (food retailers and supermarkets)
Policies to phase out the use of whole cage eggs and cage eggs as ingredients by 2012 (restaurants and pubs)
Facing Up To The Welfare Challenge
Animal Welfare Can Be Fashionable
