Animal welfare and animal health

Animal welfare and animal health are issues of great concern to society and consumers. Van Loon Group recognises the importance of animal welfare for the company and its stakeholders. Although Van Loon Group does not keep animals itself, as a supply chain manager it does have an influence on animal welfare and animal health at every stage of the supply chain.

The supply chain partners within our own supply chain and the meat raw materials that Van Loon Group sources under certified animal welfare schemes.

For pork and beef, Van Loon Group has established its own supply chains that are certified under the Beter Leven quality mark or SKAL. We aim to process as much meat as possible from these in-house supply chains. Together with customers and supply chain partners, we are constantly working to make our supply chains more sustainable, with animal welfare and animal health at the heart of our efforts. In addition to meat from its own supply chain, Van Loon Group also purchases meat from external suppliers. Our purchasing terms and conditions stipulate that we do not purchase meat from abattoirs where animals are slaughtered without anaesthesia.

Our customers are actively and continuously involved in setting the objectives. In addition, we explicitly take into account the interests of NGOs and industry organisations. The livestock coordinators at Van Loon Group work closely with livestock farmers and other stakeholders to continuously improve and further develop our own pig and cattle supply chains, with a particular focus on animal welfare. This issue affects not only the animals within our supply chain, but also has an impact on the livestock farmer, the customer and the consumer.

Compliance with animal welfare requirements across the various programmes is assessed by independent bodies. Progress towards the set targets is reported transparently each year in the CSR annual report.

•  ESRS G1 – Ethical business practices
•  Better Life Quality Mark certification from the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals
•  European Organic Quality Mark
•  SKAL certification

Meat from certified animal welfare schemes

CEO

Since 2024, the Van Loon Group has been involved in various projects aimed at phasing out tail docking in a responsible manner: First Movers, Tail Challenge and Gut2Go. These include research projects and initiatives focused on knowledge sharing. Participating pig farmers receive a subsidy of €10 per pig. The number of pigs with uncut tails increased by over 20,000 in 2025. This represents a rise from 5% to 7.1%. Part of the Tail Challenge project involves measuring tail length on the slaughter line. We are carrying out this project in collaboration with Compaxo. The technology is ready and will be further validated and finalised in 2026.
 Together with the First Movers project group, we held an information session for sow farmers on (the requirements for) free-range farrowing pens. By 2025, we will have two sow farmers already using free-range farrowing pens. They will also receive additional compensation for this from the Van Loon Group.
 
Animal health remains a key focus area within our supply chains. Good health contributes to better animal welfare and improved economic results. 
Currently, almost 9% of our piglets come from an APP-free sow farm. This contributes to a further reduction in pleurisy in fattening pigs.

By 2025, the average use of antibiotics in weaned piglets has risen slightly. On sow farms, usage has remained virtually unchanged, whilst on pig-fattening farms, the use of antibiotics has fallen. In all three categories, we are (well) below the national average. In 2025, we organised a ‘Pig at its Best’ (VoB) event and a ‘Cattle at its Best’ (RoB) event. In addition, we held four evening sessions focusing on the Euthanasia course. Sixty per cent of our pig farmers took part in these. The roadmap towards 2040 for VoB has been updated and aligned with the ‘Animal-Welfare-Friendly Livestock Farming’ covenant.

The First Movers and Tail Challenge projects will be completed in 2026. Both projects have yielded excellent results. However, two major obstacles must still be overcome before a further large-scale roll-out across the supply chain can take place: regulations concerning the transportability of pigs with injuries, and the financing of the subsidy for pig farmers. We will be discussing these issues with all stakeholders.

To gain a better understanding of antibiotic use, we will conduct a survey in 2026 on the use of second- and third-choice antibiotics. We aim to have RoB certified for the 1-star Beter Leven Quality Mark by 2026. In parallel with this, the handbook and the roadmap towards 2030 will be updated.
 
The handbook for VoB will also be updated in 2026, with the introduction of a module for sow farmers.