With progress being made on the introduction of cage-free eggs, the Global Coalition for Animal Welfare (GCAW) has announced a consultation on supply chain models for the procurement of cage-free processed egg ingredients.
The GCAW, an industry-led collaboration aimed at advancing animal welfare standards throughout the global food supply chain, has launched the consultation following the publication of progress reports on cage-free egg sourcing.
Whilst this shows good progress in North American and Europe – Carrefour, Caprabo, Salling Group and Morrisons are among the retailers to commit to sourcing cage-free eggs – there are challenges that are making progress more difficult in certain supply chains, the group said.
Laying Hen Welfare Working Group
GCAW’s Laying Hen Welfare Working Group has identified the procurement of cage-free processed egg ingredients as a key challenge in meeting global cage-free egg commitments. Specifically, the challenges centre on availability, cost and traceability of cage-free processed egg ingredients.
The public consultation will seek wider views on the potential for alternative supply chain models to facilitate procurement of cage-free processed egg ingredients. Models to be assessed in the consultation period are based on those described by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO): ‘Segregated’, ‘Mass Balance’ and ‘Book and Claim’.
The consultation will run until 17 September 2021, and seek feedback on potential solutions for the procurement of cage-free processed egg ingredients.
The GCAW is keen to hear from industry associations, egg producers, other food companies, and non-governmental organisations on the subject.
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© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Fresh Produce news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
