Following up on AccorHotels’ April 2016 pledge to only serve by 2020 free-range eggs - including shell and liquid eggs - in countries where they are available, the Group has announced today that it is partnering with Humane Society International to take this commitment further and identify responsible sources in areas where free-range supply chains are currently unavailable, difficult to locate or incipient. AccorHotels will completely eliminate caged eggs from its supply chain in markets like in Europe by 2020, and in remaining markets where local regulation permits within 8 years.
“Our Healthy and Sustainable Food Charter shows how determined we are to enhance the quality of the meals we serve our guests. We are focusing on guests’ health as much as on giving farmers fair deals, protecting the environment and protecting animal welfare. We are teaming up with Humane Society International for all these reasons,” says Amir Nahai, Chief Executive Officer Group Food & Beverage.
The Group has been working proactively with its Procurement and Food & Beverage departments to ban battery-cage farming in particular. Today, all the eggs in our hotels in Austria and Switzerland come from free-range farms, as do over 60% of the eggs in our hotels in Germany and France.
The main focus for this partnership is to identify free-range supply chains in countries hosting Accorhotels hotels in regions such as Asia and South America.
“We applaud AccorHotels for leading the way towards the improved treatment of animals, particularly in emerging markets,” said Chetana Mirle, Director of Farm Animals at Humane Society International, “We look forward to supporting their commitment in a number of ways, including technical workshops on cage-free egg production for their suppliers, connections to cage-free egg producers and other animal welfare experts in Asia and Latin America, and by providing regular updates on the latest science and policy relating to the cage-free and free-range egg movements in these markets.”