Company reporting on farm animal welfare is being driven by consumers and, increasingly, by investors.

Over the past year, we have seen a significant increase in the level and quality of corporate reporting on farm animal welfare.

The 2013 Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare, which assessed the reporting practices of 70 of the world’s largest global food companies, found that the percentage of these companies that had published a formal farm animal welfare policy had increased from 46% to 56% between 2012 and 2013, and the number that had published objectives and targets for farm animal welfare had increased from 26% to 41% over the same period.

Our research, including interviews with the companies covered by the benchmark, has identified four factors as particularly important in driving this increase in reporting.  READ MORE