About Us

The Global Coalition for Animal Welfare (GCAW) is a global platform uniting major companies and animal welfare experts in advancing animal welfare standards throughout the global food supply chain. Consisting of fourteen member companies, GCAW represents some of the largest names in global food production and food service: 2 Sisters Food Group, Aramark, Compass Group, Elior Group, IKEA Food Services, Maple Leaf Foods, Nestle, Sodexo, Starbucks, Tesco, The Cheesecake Factory, The Kroger Co, Tyson Foods and Unilever.

With combined revenues of over USD 590 billion these companies have joined the Coalition to collectively address systemic barriers to improving animal welfare, accelerate the development of standards and drive progress on key welfare issues. GCAW is currently focussed on three species-specific priority work streams addressing the welfare of laying hens, broiler chickens and pigs.

GCAW Working Groups

GCAW’s working groups each meet six times per year and have been focused on the following topics in 2022:

Laying Hen Welfare Working Group:

  • The potential for alternative supply chain models to facilitate procurement of cage-free eggs in challenging regions. The working group held a consultation with key stakeholders and invited experts to present on alternative supply chain models for other products, including the Round Table on Responsible Soy Association, Textile Exchange and Global Food Partners;
  • Avoiding the practice of day-old male chick culling, including expert briefings on in-ovo sexing technologies from Agri Advanced Technologies and from companies who have successfully adapted to the bans on male chick culling introduced in Germany and France;
  • The opportunity to improve welfare and sustainability metrics through the use of specific laying hen breeds.

Broiler Chicken Welfare Working Group:

  • The potential for welfare outcome measures to help drive welfare improvements for broiler chickens, with expert briefings on the topic from speakers at the Royal Agricultural University, Global Animal Partnership and the International Poultry Welfare Alliance;
  • The development of the GCAW Recommendation on the Use of Welfare Outcome Measures for Broiler Chickens;
  • A regional industry update on Brazil, providing insight into typical production systems, key welfare issues, legislative developments and assurance schemes.

Pig Welfare Working Group:

  • Alternatives to close confinement and innovative housing systems for sows, including expert briefings on free-farrowing from Aarhus University and Skiold Group, and group housing from Big Dutchman;
  • Practical options for providing environmental enrichment to pigs;
  • The potential for welfare outcome measures to help drive welfare improvements for pigs, including an expert briefing from the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) on the world’s largest welfare outcome measure data collection initiative;
  • A regional industry update on Australia, providing insight into typical production systems, key welfare issues, legislative developments and assurance schemes.

In addition to the species-specific working groups, GCAW holds quarterly All Members’ Meetings. These meetings provide an opportunity to address wider issues, either concerning multiple species or species not covered by the working groups. Recent All Members’ Meetings have focused on welfare outcome measures, developments in EU animal welfare legislation and the welfare of decapod crustaceans. During 2022, there has been a particular focus on the interplay between animal welfare and other aspects of sustainability. GCAW held an in-person All Members’ Meeting dedicated to this topic, with presentations from Wageningen University & Research on circular food systems, Blonk Sustainability on life cycle assessments of higher welfare production, and the Sustainable Food Trust on the Global Farm Metric.

Our Members