Woolworths aligns with groups seeking to halve livestock production by 2040

Coles and Woolworths have aligned themselves with an organisation that wants to halve the number of animals farmed for food by 2040.

Australia’s biggest supermarket chains are seeking endorsement from an organisation whose backers want to end factory farming and halve the number of animals farmed for food globally by 2040.

Woolworths, which boasts a 37 per cent market share of the Australian food and grocery sector, is working towards achieving Tier 1 “leadership” status with Business Benchmark of Farm Animal Welfare within the next three years.

In its latest sustainability report, Coles says it too is “aspiring to improve our (BBFAW) score”.

Founded by animal-rights group Compassion in World Farming and supported by animal charity Four Paws International, BBFAW analyses the farm animal welfare policies, management systems, reporting and performance of some of the world’s biggest food companies and retailers including Cargill, Fonterra, Marks and Spencer, Nestle and Walmart.

Brahman cattle bound for Indonesia are held at Cedar Park, a pre-export feed lot 100km south of Darwin. BBFAW is seeking to halve global livestock numbers within the next two decades. Picture: AAP / Dave Hunt

In the foreword of BBFAW’s most recent report, Compassion in World Farming global chief executive Phillip Lymbery and Four Paws executive board member Gerald Dick call for an end to factory farming, which they describe as “the biggest cause of animal cruelty on the planet” and “a key driver of climate change and the collapse of nature”.

They also call for a “significant reduction” in the number of animals farmed for food – “aiming for at least a 50 per cent reduction by 2040 globally” – and for animal-based products to be replaced with plant-based alternatives.

In an animal-welfare statement on its website, Woolworths said “we have aligned our policy and standards with Compassion in World Farming and we are working towards a Tier 1 Score on the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare”.

“We have an aim to achieve Tier 1 by 2025,” it said.

On its website, Compassion in World Farming says it is “relentlessly focused on ending factory farming”.

BBFAW is governed by an independent secretariat with the benchmark overseen by a 10-member technical working group comprising two directors or staff members of Four Paws, three from Compassion in World Farming and five from Chronos Sustainability. Chronos Sustainability’s clients listed on its website include Compassion in World Farming.

Woolworths and Australia’s second largest retailer Coles first publicly recognised the benchmark, little known outside of the investor community, in 2020.

A Woolworths spokeswoman said the BBFAW was a rating system commonly used globally by investors, consumers and NGOs to assess retailers and food manufacturers.

“Since we set our goal to achieve Tier 1 status in the BBFAW several years ago, the organisation has evolved its targets and criteria, and we’ll be reviewing them to understand whether they still align with our vision for the future of protein,” she said.

“BBFAW is just one of many perspectives we take into account when setting standards, with our own animal welfare and livestock specialists consulting a range of experts, including our farmers themselves.

“We’re committed to meeting the ongoing demand for quality Australian meat now and well into the future, and we’re investing in long-term partnerships with producers to make that possible.”

The retailer has confirmed it does not share the benchmark’s goal of halving livestock numbers, and that greater clarification was needed around BBFAW’s ambition of ending factory farming.

Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano on her property near Mirboo North. Picture: Aaron Francis

Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano had never heard of the global benchmark, and cautioned the retailers against aligning themselves to a ranking system administered by a 10-person body devoid of a working farmer.

“To consider these things without representation from producer groups is dangerous because it can head down the path of virtue signalling to investors rather than keeping food sustainability and good animal practices at the forefront of decision making,” Ms Germano said.

She said often the ideology of animal welfare organisations was only shared by the wealthiest societies.

“Not every agrees with the view that animals should not be used for food. The rich can afford their ideology but we have to ensure everyone has access to affordable protein,” Ms Germano said.

Investment banker David Williams, who is regarded as an agribusiness expert, has never heard of the Business benchmark for Farm Animal Welfare. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

Well-known investment banker who specialises in agribusiness, David Williams, said he had never heard of the benchmark being mentioned.

Coles did not address why it saw the ranking as important or credible, or whether its aspiration to climb up the BBFAW ranking meant its views aligned with the UK-based animal welfare organisations administering the benchmark.

A Coles spokeswoman said the supermarket chain was “committed to working with suppliers who have animal welfare standards that meet the high expectations of Coles and our customers”.