Caroline highlighted the work of the Open Wing Alliance well (we both work for The Humane League). In Asia for example, a maximum of 2-3% of eggs are likely to be cage-free, so we are using (and contextualising) the tactics that have worked in the US and Europe in Asia and other places—around 60% of the world’s caged hens are in Asia so getting new commitments and building momentum there is a key focus for us. We made some good progress last year with Kewpie, a flagship Asian brand.
Your question on why companies don’t highlight their slight moral superiority is interesting. Public reports comparing fulfilled commitments Vs laggards work well, so I do think the avoiding negative publicity pull is strong. I used to work with supermarkets in the UK and the high-end, prestigious one once told me that highlighting that they e.g. don’t allow beak trimming in their laying hens would potentially raise questions and anger in consumers—“you USED to trim the ends of hens’ beaks off!?”. It was why it was hard to get them to move on issues like not culling male chicks, as it wasn’t something they particularly wanted to highlight ever doing.
Caroline highlighted the work of the Open Wing Alliance well (we both work for The Humane League). In Asia for example, a maximum of 2-3% of eggs are likely to be cage-free, so we are using (and contextualising) the tactics that have worked in the US and Europe in Asia and other places—around 60% of the world’s caged hens are in Asia so getting new commitments and building momentum there is a key focus for us. We made some good progress last year with Kewpie, a flagship Asian brand.
Your question on why companies don’t highlight their slight moral superiority is interesting. Public reports comparing fulfilled commitments Vs laggards work well, so I do think the avoiding negative publicity pull is strong. I used to work with supermarkets in the UK and the high-end, prestigious one once told me that highlighting that they e.g. don’t allow beak trimming in their laying hens would potentially raise questions and anger in consumers—“you USED to trim the ends of hens’ beaks off!?”. It was why it was hard to get them to move on issues like not culling male chicks, as it wasn’t something they particularly wanted to highlight ever doing.
Thanks for the interesting post on this topic!
I never thought about the “we used to do bad things” part! Thank you for this comment!