SWITZERLAND – Swiss food manufacturing conglomerate Nestlé is now using only cage-free eggs in all its food products in Europe, as part of its wider commitment to animal welfare.
To accelerate industry wide adoption of the practice, the company has now joined a call for the European Union to outlaw cages in animal farming, starting with laying hens.
Nestlé says the call was inspired by the results of the European Citizens’ Initiative ‘End the Cage Age’ which calls for the end of cages in animal farming across Europe.
In 2018, more than 170 European NGOs joined the initiative and collected 1.4 million verified signatures to become the first successful European Citizens Initiative on farmed animal welfare.
“We are proud to have achieved 100% cage-free eggs in our food products across Europe,” said Magdi Batato, Nestlé Executive Vice President and Head of Operations.
“We fully support the Compassion in World Farming initiative to outlaw cages for laying hens.”
Nestlé uses approximately 4,500 tons of eggs annually in Europe for its food brands including mayonnaise from Thomy and Winiary and some vegetarian products in the Garden Gourmet portfolio.
The company has set the goal to source only eggs from cage-free hens for all its food products globally by 2025 and to continue driving improvements in farm animal welfare.
Nespresso expands its facility in Switzerland
Meanwhile, Nestlé’s coffee brand, Nespresso is planning to invest CHF 117 million (about US$126.38 million) to expand its Avenches production center in Switzerland.
The coffee brand says the expansion will help it to meet increasing consumer demand for its high-quality premium coffees and support international development.
Expansion works to increase the facility’s production facility will include the installation of three new production lines, and the expansion of the facility’s distribution center, augmenting the current logistics capacity.
The Avenches production center acts as Nespresso’ global distribution center, shipping capsules to over 80 countries around the world.
It is dedicated to the production of Nespresso Original and Professional coffees as well as Starbucks by Nespresso.
The expansion of the distribution center is set to start in July 2021 and expected to be fully operational by September 2022, creating over 50 jobs in the process.
The facility’s expansion joins the CHF 160 million (about US$172 million) expansion of the brand’s Romont production facility, which will result in the creation of up to 300 new jobs in the next 10 years.
“We are very proud to be able to continue to invest in Switzerland and support our economy, even more so in challenging times such as these,” said Guillaume Le Cunff, CEO of Nespresso.
While investing in supporting its operations, Nespresso is also committed to its sustainability ambition, that every cup of Nespresso coffee has a positive impact on the world.
The company says that all the three Nespresso production centers are ‘zero waste to landfill’ and production processes have been optimized to ensure heat and water are recovered and reused whenever possible.
Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE
