Planet Friendly Award

Planet Friendly Award: Celebrating commitments towards meat and dairy reduction

For more than 10 years, Compassion’s Food Business programme has been pivotal in driving change and raising farm animal welfare standards by working in collaboration with leading food businesses around the world.

To date, over 2.7 billion animals are set to lead better lives each year from our food industry partners’ higher welfare commitments and practices.

Whilst the transition to higher welfare production systems is important, much more needs to be done to address the current climate, health, and nature crisis. 

Vast and growing scientific evidence calls for a significant reduction in the overall production and consumption of animal protein (at least 50% in high consuming areas) and a transformation in the way in which we produce our food, towards a more resilient and sustainable food system that restores nature and protects animals. 

We have  therefore introduced a new programme of work – Rethinking Food - designed to rebalance the protein in our food system so that significantly fewer animals are produced and those that are, come from higher welfare systems, increasingly moving towards more regenerative, nature friendly farming.

The programme complements companies' sustainability and health goals and aims to help develop a more humane and sustainable food system that is fit for the future.

Compassion’s Planet Friendly Award celebrates companies that make commitments to meaningful meat (dairy, fish eggs) reduction targets in their supply, within five years. These targets are set at three levels and awards may be given for significant brands at global, regional and national levels:

• Gold – 25% reduction 
• Silver – 15% reduction 
• Bronze – 10% reduction 

If you have reduction strategies in place and are interested in applying for this award, please contact the Food Business team.

2024 Planet Friendly Award

Lidl GB received a Bronze level Planet Friendly Award for being the first UK retailer to launch an ambitious protein strategy to shift the proportion of protein sales to 25% plant-based by 2030.

By doing so, the retailer is supporting a move towards meeting the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet and leading the industry in sustainable food transitions.

Richard Bourns, Chief Commercial Officer at Lidl GB, commented: “We know that as a society we need to be incorporating more plant-based foods into our diets to ensure balance. To help households achieve this, we’re aligning our protein targets with the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet and addressing key barriers that currently exist, like price, quality, and availability, to make sure that plant-based foods are accessible to everyone.”

Compass Group France achieved the Gold level Planet Friendly Award for its ambitious commitment to reducing animal-sourced proteins by 25% by 2029.

They are addressing key challenges such as farm animal welfare, protein diversification, meat reduction, and transitioning to regenerative agriculture.

2022 Planet Friendly Award 

In 2022, Compass Group (UK & IRE) received our first full Planet Friendly Award, achieving a GOLD level for a 2025 commitment to reduce its animal sourced proteins by 25%.

They are truly leading the way, tackling head on the issues of farm animal welfare, protein diversification/meat reduction and a shift towards regenerative agriculture, providing an excellent example for others to follow. 

They have a 2025 global cage-free egg commitment and Better Chicken Commitments in the US and Europe which are raising baseline standards for poultry.

Their Net Zero plan published in May 2021 includes a commitment to switch from animal sourced proteins to 40% plant-based by 2030 (and at least 25% by 2025), and an additional pledge that 70% of their top five food categories will be sourced from regenerative agriculture by 2030.

Carolyn Ball, Director for Delivery of Net Zero at Compass Group said: “Successfully reducing our reliance on animal protein is essential for Compass if we are to deliver on our commitment to reach Climate Net Zero by 2030. To be recognised by Compassion in World Farming is to the credit of all those working so hard across the business in pursuit of a just transition.”