The Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) has positioned JBS amongst the highest scoring Brazilian companies for animal welfare standards.

The result reflects the company’s high standards for animal welfare. In 2019, JBS invested almost BRL$500 million towards continuously enhancing these standards, more of a 400% increase from 2018’s investment level. Part of this investment went towards training company team members worldwide on the expected practices used in the field and for the transportation of animals.

The investment is a part of JBS’ company-wide sustainability strategy and encourages the supply chain to respect the environment and use natural resources, reducing the generation of residues. JBS has put into practice animal welfare procedures throughout its business units to ensure compliance with international standards. They follow the five fundamental freedoms of animals:

• Free from hunger and thirst
• Free from discomfort
• Free from pain, injury and disease
• Freedom to express their normal behaviours
• Free from fear and distress

This is overseen and governed by the company’s Animal Welfare Committee, established in 2017. There are specialists across poultry, pork and beef.

Among the most recent measures adopted by JBS in Brazil to support higher standards in animal welfare are the acquisition of a new fleet of trucks designed to ensure a higher level of comfort to animals during livestock transportation from farms to our processing units, and improvements in industrial equipment and facilities. We have also partnered with universities to broaden and deepen studies related to animal welfare and are sponsoring the production of educational materials for livestock breeders on the importance of good animal welfare practices.

Practices were put in place such as Seara’s commitment to using collective gestation pens for swine breeding stocks, which offer more comfort when compared with individual bays. 58% of Seara’s livestock in 2019 used collective gestation pens and the company is on track for 100% implementation by 2025.

JBS’ Sustainability Director Marcio Nappo commented “Our commitment to the best animal welfare practices contributes to the success of our operations. It is a topic we take incredibly seriously so we are pleased to see our work acknowledged by BBFAW”.