Campaigns since early 2015 have secured pledges from over 200 US companies to eliminate battery cages from their supply chains, including from all of the top 25 US grocers and 16 of the top 20 fast food chains. Collectively, the US Department of Agriculture estimates that these pledges will affect ~225M hens, or ~70% of the US non-organic flock (from less than 5% of hens covered by cage-free pledges previously).

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These campaigns were primarily funded by $3M in grants from the Open Philanthropy Project, split between four groups: the Humane League, Mercy for Animals, the Humane Society of the United States’ Farm Animal Protection Campaign, and Compassion in World Farming USA. (International campaigns using similar tactics, funded by $3.8M in Open Philanthropy Project grants, have secured pledges from corporate giants in Canada, Colombia, Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico, and the UK.) However, it’s worth noting that much or all of the success may have been inevitable once the early pledges (which preceded our funding) were achieved.

Several factors likely primed companies and the public to be receptive to these campaigns:

Positive Corporate Engagement: Wherever possible, advocates sought to work cooperatively with companies to adopt cage-free policies.

Targeted Corporate Campaigns: Where companies refused to adopt a cage-free policy, or refused to meet with advocates at all, they launched campaigns to push the issue.

Targeted Corporate Campaigns: Where companies refused to adopt a cage-free policy, or refused to meet with advocates at all, they launched campaigns to push the issue.

Through the rest of 2016, advocates used this momentum, and their increased resources, to secure corporate pledges from the top 25 grocers in the US, most of the top 20 restaurant chains, and most of the top 20 food manufacturing companies.
The groups then asked for support to expand their cage-free campaigns across the Americas, Europe, and India. They’ve also secured global cage-free pledges from foodservice giants Compass Group and Aramark, food manufacturers including General Mills, and grocers like Aldi Nord and Lidl.

Their work continues.

Read the source article at Open Philanthropy Project

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