Sign Up
Compassion's Cage-Free Award celebrates leading food companies that are taking the momentous step of ending the use of ALL cages across their supply chain.
Around 700 million farm animals are still confined in cages every year in Europe alone, which is why caged production is the focus of Compassion's 'End the Cage Age' campaign, aimed at ending the use of all cages in EU farming.
Following the highly successful Compassion led European Citizen’s Initiative to 'End the Cage Age' – in collaboration with 170 NGO’s and securing 1.4 million verified signatures – on 30th June, the European Commission made a historic landmark decision to end the use of caged systems in livestock production by 2027.
Cages represent the worst elements of intensive farming. They constrict and confine animals, preventing them from displaying their most basic natural behaviours, resulting in poor welfare standards.
Alternative production systems that meet the welfare needs of farm animals do exist and we believe the removal of cages from farming systems will signal a better future for the animals that produce our food.
The Cage Free Award requires companies to commit to ending the use of cages for laying hens, quail, rabbits and ducks, as well as stalls and farrowing crates for sows, for their full range of fresh, frozen and ingredient products.
2022 Cage Free Award
In 2022, Domino's Pizza Enterprises was awarded the prestigious Cage Free Award in recognition of the work they are doing to end the use of all cages across their European supply chain.
Working in partnership with Compassion, Domino’s Pizza Enterprises is developing better welfare standards for all the animal-based ingredients on their menu, as well as increasing their plant-based offer.
Domino's, which operates in six European countries (France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg), has already committed to go free-range on their shell eggs and egg products and ingredients by 2025.
In 2020, the brand joined the Better Chicken Commitment for their European supply chain and extended this commitment to their operations in Australia and New Zealand in 2021.
They are now furthering their welfare commitments by developing higher welfare standards for pigs and sows under the Domino’s Pork Commitment.
The chain wants to meet their ambitious criteria, which includes a ban on the use of both farrowing crates and individual sow stalls, for 100% of their pig supply chain by 2026 and they hope to inspire other companies in Europe to follow their lead.
Maria Oehler, Head of Partnerships Europe at Domino’s said: “Together with our suppliers and partner CIWF, we strive for higher animal welfare standards for all our protein. To achieve that goal, a long-term relationship with our suppliers is important. It’s not always the easiest way, but we are committed to do the right thing, because it’s the right thing to do.
We are therefore very honoured to receive the Cage-Free Award. Winning this Award is a great reward and recognition for us as a company and for our suppliers.”
Previous Cage Free Award Winners
In 2020, Coop UK received the Cage Free Award in recognition of the retailer’s efforts to support cage free farming, and in particular, working with their supply chain partners Winterbotham Darby, to drive higher welfare production through the removal of confinement systems for sows in their continental meat supply chain in Italy, Spain and Germany.
This action will drive positive change in continental meat production and demonstrates the type of leadership shown by previous Cage Free Award recipients:
- Ella's Kitchen (UK) - 2019
- Waitrose (UK) - 2017
- Marks and Spencer (UK) - 2017
- Pret (global) - 2017
- Whole Foods Market (US) 2017
- Jamie Oliver Group (global) - 2017
Find out more about the criteria of the Cage Free Award here.
