The awards were dedicated to providing the major companies with welfare awards, due to the scale of their impact on animal welfare and, additionally, smaller businesses receive awards throughout the year.
SPA Food became the first Polish company to receive a Good Chicken Award at the ceremony, which took place in Paris, while Globus became the first German company to receive the same award.
British chef Jamie Oliver received three awards, Good Chicken, Egg and Pig, and previous Good Egg winner McDonald’s received a Good Sow Commendation this year.
CiWF director of food business Dr Tracey Jones said: “It has been an exciting year for Compassion’s Food Business team, working in new areas and expanding our programme further into Europe. The awards demonstrate the headway we have already made and while there is still a long way to go, it’s great to see such a growing interest in farm animal welfare in an increasing number of countries.”
The ceremony also saw British retailers Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s, as well as Germany’s Kaufland, receive awards for their dedication to animal welfare.
Dr Jones added: “We have been impressed by the calibre of entries for this year’s awards and have been pleased with the range of companies from across Europe who have been recognised for their work.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg, however, and we will continue to engage with those companies that are keen to embrace higher animal welfare standards, and realise that this is not just an ethical issue but a commercially viable thing to do, as well as something that more and more consumers are demanding.”