by Mahi Klosterhalfen
Nov 1 20242 min read 0

2

Victories & Achievements Farmed Animals
Frontpage

Hi Friends,

After two years of tireless campaigning and countless talks with Lidl, we have managed to secure a commitment for broilers in Germany. Lidl published its new objective for broilers in its revised purchasing policy on its website. It says the following:

  • We will convert our range of fresh poultry to Haltungsform level 3 (German industry labeling scheme) as a minimum standard by the end of 2030 at the latest, provided that there is sufficient availability of product on the market.
  • If there is sufficient availability of product on the market, we will convert our sausage range to at least Haltungsform level 3 by 2030. In the first step, we will convert 30% of our own-brand Metzgerfrisch sausage range to at least Haltungsform level 3 by the end of 2024 and 50% by the end of 2025.

Haltungsform is the welfare labeling scheme the German retailers use. Level 3 covers lower stocking density (29kg/m²), access to outdoor climate (usually winter gardens), enrichment, slower growing breeds and animal health monitoring. Additionally Lidl commits to important requirements that we have called for during our negotiations (that bring their commitment even closer to the ECC criteria):

  • Lidl will publish a roadmap and report progress regularly.
  • Lidl only accepts poultry meat from farms that use multi-phase CO2 stunning processes.
  • Lidl will only use breeds from the RSPCA positive list.
  • Lidl does not accept any future worsening of the current Haltungsform 3 criteria.

Because of these add-ons, Lidl now meets all of our "Haltungsform 3+" (or "HF3+") criteria.

While we don't like the “provided that there is sufficient availability of product on the market” caveat, we think that the development of a roadmap and annual reporting are good signs that Lidl actually wants to fulfill this commitment. Lidl  also just re-opened an important line of communication that they had shut down when we started the campaign. This also  points to the conclusion  that we can now work with Lidl on the when and how.

We now have 2.5 of the four major retailers in Germany committed to implement HF3+ (Lidl as 0.5 of Schwarz Group and Rewe Group) or ECC (Aldi) by 2030. This is a huge success for the chickens and I think we're now past the tipping point. The Lidl commitment alone means better living conditions for many millions of animals (I think more than 50 million per year and we're quite sure it's less than 100 million per year).

We could not have reached this success without every single organization who supported the campaign. Special thanks go out to all members of the Lidl working group: Animal Welfare Observatory, THL UK, Open Cages, Otwarte Klatki, Project 1882 and Essere Animali! And even more groups have been and are supporting the international Lidl campaign - thank you to all of the groups and individuals who put together an amazing campaign! The campaign will continue in several countries.

Since Lidl Germany’s commitment is very close to the ECC and should have very similar welfare outcomes, we hope that this commitment will help to convince other national Lidl offices to join the ECC.

Best wishes,
Mahi

2

0
0

Reactions

0
0

More posts like this

There are no more recommendations left.

Comments


No comments on this post yet.
Be the first to respond.
Curated and popular this week
 · 3d ago · 1m read
 · 
Dear Colleagues, The Animal Law Foundation has placed a fake advertisement in London to raise awareness about the contrast between what the public is sold and the reality of animal farming. This follows a report and an investigation into how animals raised for food are depicted and the reality of the lives animals live. Actress and comedian Diane Morgan and TV Presenter Wendy Turner joined us to raise awareness about this Food Chain Misinformation! The Animal Law Foundations work included an investigation into supermarkets, producers and the media in the UK, which revealed that the dominant image for animal farming is happy and healthy animals outside, this is despite the fact 85% are raised on industrial farms. This is against the backdrop of laws and rules protecting consumers and the public from misleading and dishonest information. You can learn more about our work here and read the report here.  You can find photos from the day and ways you can support the action in our partner pack here. Please also find our links to one of our films from the day with Diane Morgan below, we would be grateful if you could share on your platforms. X (Twitter) Instagram Linkedin Bluesky Threads TikTok YouTube Thank you for all your support, Morgane
 · 3d ago · 1m read
 · 
In the vegan and animal advocacy movement, operations professionals are the engine behind the mission - keeping organizations running smoothly, sustainably, and strategically. But let’s be honest: being “in operations” often means wearing every hat at once. You’re responding to people’s needs, managing financial activity, ensuring legal compliance, maintaining systems, and reducing risk and solving unexpected problems - sometimes all in a single day. On top of that, you’re shaping internal culture, promoting wellbeing to prevent burnout, reimagining how teams work together, and exploring how AI can support your mission. It’s a complex mix of responsibilities and specialties - all of it essential, and much of it out of sight. To support, strengthen and celebrate this critical leadership, PEPR is launching 'Enabling Impact: The Animal Advocacy Ops Collective' - an Operations Community for the Farmed Animal & Vegan Advocacy Movement - a collaborative space for connection, shared insights, and collective impact. Members will also gain access to tailored programming, tools, and trend insights designed to help you thrive in your role and power your organization forward.  Please head over to our sign up page to let us know if you are interested in taking part. This new program is in addition to PEPR's existing program offering strategic & advisory operational support to farmed animal advocacy organizations through which we accept organizations on a rolling basis. 
 · 1d ago · 10m read
 · 
A hidden crisis Literally, quintillions1 of animals are suffering and dying right now in the wild, due to disease, hunger, thirst, excessive heat or cold, and other factors. Yet, most people—including those who express concern for animals—fail to give importance to this issue. Why? In this article, we explore the cognitive biases2 that lead us to ignore one of the world’s largest sources of suffering and death.3 Understanding these biases can help us think more clearly about our moral responsibilities. The magnitude of the problem When we think of animal suffering, we often picture factory farms or labs that test on animals. These are indeed serious problems. But the number of wild animals is vastly larger, estimated between 1 and 10 quintillion at any given time.4 To understand this, consider the following analogy: If we compressed the total number of animals exploited by humans and the total number of wild animals into a one-year timeline, the animals used by humans would represent just 14 seconds. Wild animals would represent the remaining 364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 46 seconds.1 The vast majority of wild animals suffer daily due to natural causes. Despite its immense scale, this issue receives very little attention. Even among animal advocates and animal ethicists, the problem remains largely ignored. This doesn’t seem logical when looking at the figures. Below, we will explore several biases that can cause this. Status quo bias: Resistance to changing beliefs Our minds are naturally resistant to change, whether in habits or beliefs. This is known as status quo bias. Several related patterns reinforce this: * Bandwagon effect: we tend to believe what those around us believe * System justification bias: we defend current systems and norms * Conservatism bias: we hesitate to update our beliefs, even with new evidence Key question: If everyone around you focused only on animal exploitation, how likely would you be to think about the suffering o
Recent opportunities
View more