Global Food Partners (GFP) has recently launched WelfareProgress, a centralised cage-free egg reporting platform, endorsed by leading animal advocacy organisations committed to helping food businesses enhance their transparency efforts and ease their reporting processes
According to GFP, with hundreds of food businesses around the world committed to going cage-free, stakeholders now expect annual and transparent reporting on their progress. Developed in line with guidelines and principles of the United Nations Guiding Principles Reporting Framework (UNGP RF), WelfareProgress aims to help companies demonstrate progress on their cage-free commitments through accurate, thorough and timely reporting, allowing them to provide credible information to investors, animal advocacy groups, suppliers and consumers.
The first set of companies to report annual progress on this platform include global companies like Accor, Wyndham Destinations, SaladStop! and PT Sari Pizza from Asia, CMR from Mexico, Vapiano and Companía Argentina de Jugos from South America and Huevos Guillén from Spain.
GFP said that despite challenges faced by the food and hospitality industries globally over the past two years, many companies have continued to proactively work towards their responsible sourcing goals and remain committed to reporting on their cage-free egg progress. According to the company’s records Accor, with over 5200 hotels across the globe, is among the first to report progress against its commitment to source 100% cage-free eggs by 2025.
Brune Poirson, chief sustainability officer at Accor said, "Global Food Partners’ WelfareProgress is a tool that will be instrumental in helping us share global and regional progress to a wide audience. Accor has been committed to increasing cage-free eggs sourcing since 2016. The challenge is huge to source and report on cage-free eggs all over the world, but we aim to progress with support from external organizations and NGOs. At end-2020, 43% of hotels got supplies of eggs laid by free-range hens raised outdoors.”
With the launch of this platform, Elissa Lane, CEO of Global Food Partners, shares, “We’re pleased to see companies around the world, from Latin America to Asia, using WelfareProgress to report their cage-free progress. Mitigating reputational risk is a key service we provide our clients, and we understand the value of transparent communication progress to mitigate these risks. WelfareProgress allows companies to publicly showcase their cage-free implementation progress on a single platform, making reporting more efficient and effective. We are delighted to see the tool in use and look forward to more food businesses worldwide joining us to showcase their progress on WelfareProgress.”
According to GFP, Pizza Marzano has over 20 stores in Indonesia, a subsidiary of the international Pizza Express group has started using cage-free eggs since February 2021.
Anthony Cottan, president director, PT MAP Boga Adiperkasa Tbk (parent company of PT Sari Pizza, which operates the Pizza Marzano brand in Indonesia), said, "We’re happy to share our commitment, progress, and plans to advance cage-free sourcing at our operations in Indonesia, and to showcase our leadership on this issue in the country. At Pizza Marzano, we never compromise when it comes to our product and service to meet high quality and ethical standards. We are committed to working with and buying from farmers and suppliers who share our commitment towards food sustainability. So far, 79% of the eggs that we source are cage-free. We’re excited about this tool, and we’re committed to reporting annually on it to share our ongoing progress."
SaladStop!, a Singaporean restaurant company with outlets across the Asia Pacific region, also reported its annual progress towards its 2025 cage-free commitment through WelfareProgress.
Katherine Braha, director and co-founder of SaladStop! said, "We hope to be one of the catalysts to change the food system for the better and to help pave the way towards more transparency in the food industry. WelfareProgress allows us to do just this - to report our progress alongside the industry and stay accountable to all stakeholders and end consumers.”
GFP said that WelfareProgress was developed based on the feedback from the food industry that there was a need for a streamlined, centralised reporting process. The tool is free for companies to use as the industry works together to meet animal welfare, responsible sourcing and CSR goals. The company aims to invite companies across the globe to report on the platform.
