In the EU, progress on animal welfare legislation has been planned since the Commission first announced its Farm to Fork strategy.
While progress has been made, some Member States have tried to adopt additional measures and introduce their own national measures. For example, the slaughter of male chicks after hatching is permitted in most, but not all, EU countries. This creates an uneven point of animal welfare between Member States.
In response, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) sought to satisfy customers’ appetite for more animal welfare legislation in the area of meat and fish. Early findings suggest that customers need better animal welfare, but are they willing to pay for it?
BEUC and related organisations surveyed a total of 8,000 people in eight countries (1,000 more people per country): Belgium, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
The most important thing we must not forget is that at least 90% of consumers have adopted new laws aimed at improving the welfare of farm animals in the EU, such as the expansion of living space and the prohibition of cage systems.
The survey also found that consumers want to know more about how farm animals are raised and want reliable labeling. In fact, 72% of respondents said they would like to see labeling of production strategies extended to products other than eggs.
The results also suggest that consumers have little trust in companies’ animal welfare claims and that 84% of them would react negatively to “welfare washing”, in which operators recommend that they have higher animal welfare criteria than they have.
“As with eggs, 3 out of 4 consumers would like to have data on how animals have been raised with products such as meat and dairy because they feel they don’t know enough,” Goyens said. “On the other hand, few accept the same goes for companies’ claims about how they care for animals. The industry deserves to think twice before embarking on an ‘animal welfare washing’ approach, as this can tarnish the reputation of their brands for a long time. “
In practice, achieving better animal welfare standards is expensive. This begs the question: who pays?
According to EU respondents, not all of them will be covered by farmers. A total of 74% of survey participants said they would like the EU to provide budget to farmers to implement higher welfare standards. If they were more expensive, then consumers would be willing to pay, to varying degrees.
Despite this, BEUC is under pressure that the EU and national governments will have to ensure that the burden of this transition is shared and not borne only by consumers. ” As we move towards higher animal welfare standards, the EU and governments will need to ensure that the prices of this transition are shared along the entire price chain and not just through consumers,” said BEUC’s Goyens.
“Farmers also don’t deserve to be the ones to pay the price. Most consumers would like the EU to fund farmers for their welfare practices and accept that food imports deserve to be subject to the same rules. “
A UK study published in 2023 also found that some, yet all, consumers are willing to pay for increased animal welfare. Among price-sensitive consumers, the willingness to pay a surcharge for animal welfare is “negligible. “in the “price sensitive” category.
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