Norwegian farmers lead the way on animal welfare

A recent global assessment shows that Norwegian food producers are among the best in the world when it comes to farm animal welfare. Nortura places two tiers higher than last year and is now at the second highest tier.

‘Nortura is our main supplier of raw materials such as hides, skins, wool, offal, bones, and eggshells. It is of utmost importance for us at Norilia as well as for our customers that animal welfare be taken seriously at every step of the supply chain. Naturally, we are very pleased that Nortura achieves such a high ranking in the assessment’, says Morten Sollerud, CEO of Norilia.

The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) is the leading global measure for governance, commitment, performance, and transparency in farm animal welfare. It assesses food companies annually, providing insight into company practice and performance regarding farm animal welfare. Norwegian food companies have participated since 2020.

Sollerud is pleased with Nortura’s long-time commitment to farm animal welfare and welcomes the addition of measurement and reporting as a way to put farm animal welfare on the agenda. This is in high demand by Norilia's customers.

‘Farm animal welfare has been a priority for many decades in agriculture and the parts of the supply chain that handle live animals. Nevertheless, we can always do better. That is why it’s important to have attested measurements and reporting systems that serve as foundations for systematic improvements. That kind of documentation is also important to provide reliable and credible data about farm animal welfare in Norway’, Sollerud says.

Nortura is the only national food company that is ranked in the second highest tier of the global assessment. Moreover, Nortura is the only food company that handles farm animal welfare related to the whole range of poultry, mutton, goat, beef, pork, turkey, reindeer, and eggs. Nortura’s goal is, however, nothing short of the top rank of the assessment.

‘We are very proud of this result. It shows that our systematic approach to farm animal welfare, reporting, and transparency is working’, says Anne Marit Panengstuen, CEO of Nortura.

Read the report here