German retailers Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd are joining forces in the launch of a new Aldi animal welfare label, ‘Für Mehr Tierschutz’ (Improving Animal Welfare). The new label will be launched in the second half of 2017 and will apply to a range of milk-based drinks.
The new label's standards, which are more exacting than the current legal guidelines for the keeping of livestock, were developed by the Deutschen Tierschutsbund (German Animal Protection Association) in collaboration with experts in the agricultural, retail and dairy processing industry.
Certification, which overseen by independent bodies, will require dairy farmers to provide a feed box, six square metres of indoor space, and access to pasture for all cows, as well as carrying out pregnancy tests before slaughter.
"We are very pleased that Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd are taking this path with us", said Thomas Schröder, president of the Deutschen Tierschutzbund.
"We hope that other companies will follow this good example, to meet both their responsibilities and the consumers' wish to improve the welfare of livestock."
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Martha Sparrius. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.