To proclaim yourself as a responsible company, you must involve your value chain. The organization Mercy for Animals (MFA) highlighted precisely this characteristic and invited to reinforce the social responsibility of Walmart through the incorporation within its offer, about the egg free from a cage.
Mercy for Animals vs the cages
The organization said that if Walmart really wants to be recognized as a socially responsible company, it has to eliminate chicken cages in its supply chain.
Blanka Alfaro, Senior Vice President of the International Area in Mercy For Animals said: «We invite Walmart to become a leading animal welfare company and commit to eliminating chicken cages in its supply chain,».
According to Mercy For Animals, more than 200 million chickens live in cages so small that birds cannot perform natural behaviors. This tiny space causes the chickens to get tangled in the wires of the cages, get hurt and even die inside them.
Mercy For Animals invited Walmart to eliminate the cages in its supply chain.
«Millions of chickens in Mexico will continue to suffer the terrible conditions to which they are subjected by industrial egg suppliers until companies act and establish animal welfare policies that reject the cages in their egg supply chain,» Alfaro said in a statement.
Even to attract the attention of the company, the organization dedicated to animal protection held a peaceful protest in which invited Walmart in Mexico and Central America to remove the cages where hens are kept for life.
Hay que decir que la organización @MFA_Latino busca de manera silenciosa lograr que @WalmartMXyCAM adopte el compromiso de @walmart en USA respecto de la jaulas en su cadena de suminisyro de huevo. pic.twitter.com/P6mh5CCqt8
— Expok (@Expok) May 15, 2018
But that was not all. At Expok we had the opportunity to chat with Elizabeth Álvarez, Coordinator of Corporate Campaigns in Latin America from Mercy for Animals, who shared part of the objective of this invitation.
What MFA has to say …
During the interview, Elizabeth Álvarez said that one of the goals of the organization is to promote a society where animals are treated with the respect and compassion they deserve. To do so, they develop initiatives and corporate policies that invite brands and society to change their consumption and production methods for more sustainable ones.
We invite you to watch the full interview in the next video! You’ll love it!
She also mentioned that the peaceful protest belongs to a series of strategies that they have planned to approach and capture the attention of the company. However, the company has not yet shared or done anything about it.
What does Walmart’s social responsibility say about this?
The company recently shared in its annual Corporate Social Responsibility report that, thanks to its sustainability projects, it had managed to save close to 400 million pesos in expenses.
In addition to this achievement, Walmart pointed out that it was also investing in initiatives against corruption and that it was focusing its strategies on taking care of its social, environmental and corporate governance footprint.
In this regard, Guilherme Loureiro, president and CEO of Walmart in México and Central America, mentioned that to be a truly committed brand, it was fundamental to integrate its value chain:
«We not only transform our operations, but we also work with suppliers and government organizations,» said Loureiro.
However, for the organization Mercy for Animals, this commitment is not complete due to the fact that the egg supply chain still allows the use of cages and thus the mistreatment of chickens, despite the fact that the brand committed to eliminate them since 2016.
Mercy For Animals said that some leading companies in the industry such as Grupo Bimbo, McDonald’s, Starbucks and PepsiCo have already publicly committed to stop using eggs produced in cage installations by 2025. It should be noted that the retail chain already makes this in other countries, so there is no impediment to begin practicing in Mexico. Don´t you think that Walmart’s social responsibility could be greatly improved by incorporating this practice?
What do you think? Please, leave us a comment.
