SUSTAINABILITY
COMPASSION’S PRELIMINARY CHICKENTRACK REPORT LAYS GROUND FOR MEASURING EUROPEAN PROGRESS TOWARDS HIGHER WELFARE CHICKEN
EUROPE: Compassion in World Farming has launched its preliminary European ChickenTrack report, which aims to measure company progress towards meeting the higher welfare requirements of the 2026 Better Chicken Commitment (BCC). This introductory report rounds up progress over the past year, provides some examples of best practice reporting, and lays down a reporting framework for businesses to adopt ahead of the 2022 European
ChickenTrack. Over the past four years, more than 270 food companies have acknowledged their responsibility in improving the breeding, living conditions and slaughter practices for the meat chickens in their supply by committing to the BCC, promising to introduce the higher welfare criteria by 2026. Measures include using slowergrowing breeds that have better welfare outcomes, and providing the birds with more space to live and
enriching their environment via access to perches, pecking substrates (such as straw bales or scattered grain) and natural light. Signatories must also use more humane slaughter methods and submit to third-party audits. This move in the market is the biggest shift in chicken welfare for over a decade and ChickenTrack aims to drive compliance and encourage transparency, by sharing best practice from the companies who are demonstratively leading the way. This first edition highlights some examples of best practice reporting from companies like KFC, M&S and Sodebo in France, and provides a reporting framework that companies can adopt. It explains how Compassion will begin to track and report on company progress annually starting from 2022. ‘The growing number of commitments across the different food sectors is a positive and hugely important first
step towards making higher welfare chicken the norm, but a fundamental shift across – and from within – the industry is needed, and requires a collective effort to build supply of higher welfare chicken ahead of the 2026 BCC deadline,’ noted Compassion in a statement. ‘Companies must work with their suppliers and agree contracts; parent flocks will need to be laid down and scaled-up, product offerings may need to change, and the consumer needs to be brought on board.’ ChickenTrack will begin to highlight company progress towards broiler welfare commitments in 2022, and companies are asked to publicly disclose their reporting ahead of the 31 July 2022 deadline. To find out more about the ChickenTrack Report, go to: www.compassioninfoodbusiness.co m/our-work/key-tools-forsuccess/chickentrack
Melodea spearheads new era in sustainable, bio-based packaging ISRAEL: Green-tech start-up Melodea, Ltd has joined the sustainable packaging scene with the launch of MelOx™ – a high-performance, plantsourced barrier coating that protects packaged products from oxygen, and oil and grease transmission. The company has also developed Melodea VBcoat™ , which protects packaged goods from water vapour, alongside oil and grease transmission. Unlike existing materials used for such purposes like plastics and aluminium, Melodea sources its barrier coating material for packaging from wood pulp – the same raw material used to make paper. The innovative coatings are sustainable and recyclable, and do not contribute to plastic waste pollution.
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“Cellulose, the primary building block of the cell walls of all plants, is the most abundant biopolymer on the planet,” explained Shaul Lapidot, PhD – CEO and co-founder of Melodea. “It provides plants with extraordinary strength, and is a lightweight – yet strong – material We found that this bounteous and renewable material can be utilised to produce novel, ecofriendly packaging alternatives for the packaging industry.” The company applies proprietary technology to extract cellulose nanocrystals from wood pulp sourced from trees grown in industrial forests. The sustainable barrier coatings are uniquely designed to offer protection from oxygen, oil, grease, and water vapour transmission. The coatings
help maintain the quality and integrity of the packaged foods inside, while eliminating the need for aluminum and plastic. As a forestry by-product, the innovation is also compostable, recyclable, and completely non-toxic to both people and the environment. Once used, one can simply throw it into the recycling bin. The award-winning start-up’s liquid formulas can be applied as a coating to various substrates, including paper, paperboard, bio-plastic, and even
plastic itself. The high-barrier coatings can be tailored to a broad range of packaging products, such as pouches, lids, and food and beverage cartons, and is suitable for packaging both dry and liquid products. “Our coatings can easily be integrated into standard industrial coating lines, including slot dies, rod coaters, and gravures,” noted Zvika Weiss, CFO of Melodea, adding that the coatings are already in pilot use by a number of major companies.
