Amsterdam, the Netherlands-based food and beverage firm JDE Peet’s has issued a comprehensive new animal welfare policy, instituting stricter fish-welfare standards across the company’s global supply chain.
The policy is expected to affect a number of its suppliers in the 100 countries in which JDE Peet’s operates, particularly those in Asia, where JDE Peet’s operates 230 OldTown restaurants in Malaysia, China, Singapore, and Indonesia.
JDE Peet’s owns more than 50 brands such as Peet’s Coffee, OldTown White Coffee, Maxwell House, and Pickwick. Its new farmed animal welfare policy was drafted by the international non-governmental organization Lever Foundation, which specializes in enhancing protein-sourcing policies with sustainability measures.
The updated policy requires the company’s suppliers of farmed fish to achieve humane stocking densities, implement less-cruel slaughter practices, and conduct regular monitoring for water quality and disease in their operations by 2025.
“Like our customers, JDE Peet’s is concerned with the welfare of farm animals used in the group’s supply chain and is committed to improving farm animal welfare across our global supply chains,” JDE Peet’s said in a press release. “We require our direct suppliers of ingredients from animal origin to engage in continuous improvement to promote better standards in quality, safety and animal welfare respecting the Five Freedoms.”
JDE Peet’s said it is continuing to develop more-specific parameters and requirements to improve the sustainability of its supply chain.
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