Next year’s non-financial reports will include company progress on a range of ESG commitments, and a litmus test for voluntary action on animal welfare. By David Burrows.
At the end of next month, deadlines for thousands of corporate commitments on a variety of ESG topics will expire. From targets to use more recycled plastic packaging and reduction goals on carbon emissions to those aimed at improving animal welfare, next year’s non-financial reporting will be interesting to read, and the statistics fascinating to weed.
NGOs are already gearing up to hold feet to the fire – especially when it comes to animal welfare, which often attracts headlines and human empathy.
Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) has been trying to reinvigorate those involved in the Better Chicken Commitment, with foodservice in particular left exposed by a failure to get near the promises made on progress towards higher welfare broiler production by the end of this year.
There is, as Footprint reported last month, better news in relation to layers: 92% of cage-free commitments with deadlines of 2024 or earlier had been fully fulfilled as of July 2025, according to a global report by the Open Wing Alliance, a coalition of dozens of animal protection groups.
Nestlé, Mondelez, Danone and KraftHeinz were among the major food manufacturers commended in the ‘Fair and fowl 2025 cage-free eggs report’ for fulfilling their commitment, reporting progress on regional levels, and/or demonstrating clear steps to fulfil their commitments in emerging markets across the globe. Nando’s, Costa and Starbucks were among the restaurant chains designated ‘good eggs’ in the report, as were Marks & Spencer, Lidl and Aldi. Accor and IHG were given pats on the back.
Compass Group was among the companies singled out for special praise, having engaged fully and committed to bridging remaining gaps in its supply chain to ensure the eggs it uses are not from caged birds.
Still, there were plenty of ‘bad eggs’ – those not taking meaningful steps to fulfil their cage-free commitments and/or not reporting comprehensively – especially in the restaurant and hospitality sectors internationally.
More than four billion hens worldwide remain confined to cages “so small they cannot spread their wings or engage in natural behaviours”, the welfare NGOs noted. Caged housing systems are linked to high stress, disease and poor bone health, all contributing to poor animal welfare.
In the UK the number is seven million hens – or 18% of egg production. This explains why, despite the efforts of those ‘good eggs’, pressure is rising on the government to legislate. Austria, Luxembourg, and Switzerland have banned cages, and other countries are preparing to phase them out.
Level playing field
These laws level the playing field, and businesses here in the UK, including Greggs and Co-op want this too. They are of course worried about being undercut by competitors that are less committed to the cage-free cause. Writing for Poultry News recently, British Egg Industry Council chief executive Nick Allen highlighted that imports from Ukraine, most of which are not compliant with the EU Welfare of Laying Hen Directive 1999/74/EC, which has been part of UK legislation since 2012, are “negatively affecting values in the market outside of UK retail, which must be having an effect on farm margins”.
In the UK, Allen highlighted that MPs are questioning the use of enriched colony cages but seem to be turning a blind eye to the “food products from prohibited systems of production coming onto our shelves or into our foodservice sector, particularly the highly sensitive egg products sector, where consumers are completely unable to make any kind of informed decision based on animal welfare. This is not a free market, it’s an opaque one,” he added.
NGOs like the Humane League have spotted this issue and turned up the heat on wholesalers in particular. Nearly a fifth (18%) of eggs are sold in the foodservice sector, which is roughly 7.7 million hens of the national flock of 43 million birds, the league’s campaigner Jodi Darwood told Footprint. “This is a lot of animals and this sector’s role in supplying food businesses and restaurants makes them important part of the supply chain to be going cage-free,” she said.
Darwood and her colleagues had Brakes in their crosshairs recently – a company that “made a commitment after dialogue with The Humane League UK in 2016, so we would like to see them fulfil it given our role in securing it”. In October, Brakes was still selling eggs from caged hens on its website. However, it has begun conversations with the campaign group – after “years of ignoring us”, according to Darwood.
A spokesman for the Sysco-owned business told Footprint that “our commitment is for our own brand eggs to be cage free by the end of the year, and there’s no change to that”. This has reassured the campaigners too, and the noise has died down.
Quiet quitters
Brands that have made commitments on everything from chicken welfare to plastic packaging voluntarily may feel they are being unfairly scrutinised: what about those who have promised nothing, or signed up to targets before quitting on the quiet (or tried to), they often ask? (The volatile geopolitical and economic landscape has already filtered through to ESG commitments as big brands water down various targets).
Some have had enough. Food industry whistle-blowers have this year raised major concerns over voluntary action on greenhouse gas emissions, for example, as well as on meat and dairy just last week. The penultimate report on the global commitment to plastic packaging, led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation over the past five years, shows many companies falling short on the targets set. The final results won’t be published for another 12 months.
Whether they were too ambitious, too difficult in the current market, or were undone and undercut by the laggards will be hotly debated. EMF’s new business commitment, published this month, puts the non-signatories firmly in the spotlight: the 80% of the market that has yet to commit to EMF’s target scheme has “performed on average much worse” than those who have. “Government policy is essential to mobilise the 80% of the market that remains largely inactive and to overcome systemic barriers that halt the progress of leaders,” the think tank said.
Other businesses have joined forces with NGOs in a push for regulations to capture the laggards and level the playing field. The likes of Greggs and Co-op, for example, signed a letter coordinated by CIWF to press the UK Government to introduce a long-awaited ban on cages for chickens.
The UK Government’s stance is unclear. Battery cages were banned years ago but this did not include so-called enriched cages. In October, CIWF launched a six-week social media advertising campaign, to put pressure on Defra to get rid of cages for good. Scotland consulted on a ban about 18 months ago but has gone quiet since. A spokeswoman told Footprint this week that the responses are still being considered.
Policymakers should certainly prepare for a busy 2026 if large numbers of food companies fail to meet their wide-ranging ESG voluntary commitments. Both NGOs and the businesses who have invested in higher welfare, recycled plastic and emissions cuts will certainly be calling for the stick to be taken to the laggards now they have stuck their neck out (and opened their wallets).
