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Coop is looking for the animal welfare in meat production

Timo Schertenleib
5. Apr. 2017
2 Min. Lesezeit

Swiss people love meat. This is confirmed by the figures of the Swiss Agricultural Report 2016, which shows the per capita consumption of over 51kg. But are the people aware of the circumstances in which the animals live before their determination to get slaughtered?

Dr. Hansuli Huber is Managing Director of Swiss Animal Protection (STS) and has written many contributions to the animal husbandry. The prevailing conditions in Switzerland today are very advanced. Outside of Switzerland, cage batteries for chickens, box stands for pigs and cutting the beaks are not a rarity. In contrast to Switzerland, in the USA and the EU, slaughter without anesthetic as well as intensive mass animal farming are legal.

Each year the WWF makes sustainability ratings of the largest food processors in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The ecological commitment is under scrutiny. The Bell Group, which belongs to Coop, is the No. 1 in Switzerland and a leader in meat and convenience food in Europe. Due to the above-average performance in the tests, the company is awarded the title "Ambitious". The Bell Group attaches great importance to animal welfare and is committed to support sustainable projects in Switzerland as well as abroad.

Through the labels Naturaplan and Naturafarm, Coop has also been offering meat and eggs for over 22 years from animals with free-range living. For the reason that in Switzerland the most stringent animal welfare legislation all over the world applies, as much meat & eggs as possible are brought from the domestic market. However, it is not possible to cover the whole demand for domestic products. They also need to buy meat from abroad. In collaboration with the STS (Schweizer Tierschutz), they try to look that the animals are kept under similar conditions as in Switzerland.

I hope that this information can encourage our meat eaters in Switzerland to pay attention where the end product comes from and where it is possible to consider buying of domestic meat. Maybe the one or the other day meat can be completely dispensed in order to reduce just a little bit our enormous consumption.