Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CP Foods) unveils animal welfare innovations to create a model that promote humane principles for husbandary to grow naturally and safely as a key factor to produce healthy meat quality throughout the supply chain to ensure food security and sufficiency under a single standard for its businesses both in Thailand and the overseas investment. 

Dr. Payungsak Somyanontanakul (D.V.M.), vice president and head of Animal Welfare Committee of CP Foods, said CP Foods is committed on research and development for innovations that promote well-being of animals in all conditions as well as diseases prevention. The practices has aligned with humane principles and five freedoms of animal welfare as its groundwork to take care all of animals in livestock and aquaculture farms. These practices will ensure that animals are comfortable with enough foods, free to express normal behaviours, which encourage animals’ good health, sickless without antibiotic treatment and any growth hormones. The company has also operated biosecurity system for disease prevention to ensure all animals are safe from any animal epidemics in line with food security and sustainable production guidelines.

In 2020, CP Foods was the first company in Thailand to implement Birdoo Smart Eyes in broiler farms, which is an automated remote control with real-time monitoring to observe animal health such as chicken weight, water and diet. The technology will show the result via mobile application and help analyzing and predicting with rapid outcome. Moreover, the company also launched smart farm innovations by installing computer systems and automation to collect data, with accurate assessment to facilitate farm management. It will keep chickens in a good and appropriate environment throughout the farming period. Actually, CCTV has helped observe animal abnormalities in the farm to reduce risk and loss for better productivity

CP Foods has also implemented animal welfare innovation in many forms to encourage animal behaviors such as laying hen business has developed a prototype from for free-range organic broiler where broilers can roam freely on grass lawns outside the housing and freely express their natural behaviours. The company also transfers this knowledge to farmer at Nong Wha Agricultural Village at Chachoengsao province, which has been certified Organic Livestock from the Livestock Development Department. Moreover, the cage free technology also has been implemented to encourage farmers in Malaysia and Laos.

“CP Foods recognizes that animal welfare innovation is an important contributing factor to ensure healthy animals following the goal in producing good quality and safe meat through sustainable production.

Currently, 100% of the animals raised by the Company are bred align with five-freedom principles with responsible and prudent use of antibiotics. These will guarantee safe food quality and food security for consumers,” Dr. Payungsak said.

Dr. Damnoen Chaturawitwong (D.V.M.),  Senior Vice President of Swine Veterinary Service Department of CP Foods, said swine business has developed the innovation that helped break the ice among piglets after weaning to living together in flocks. Some herbal extract powder or odorous disinfectant that can be safely sprayed on weaning piglets to make them all smell the same so that they accept each other more rapidly and reduce natural fighting behaviors, as they have never met each other before. Such innovation helps reduce stress to animal as well as physical wounds from the fighting. The innovation encourages healthy pigs throughout breeding period.

In addition, there had created automatic sliding bridge to move pig to the transport vehicle faster. This practice has allowed pig walked up on a sloped way without trauma and stress. Smooth walking up will result in positive effects on pork quality until reaching slaughterhouse.

Due to the commitment on innovation and technology together with animal welfare principles, CP Foods has been promoted to Tier 3 from Tier 4 in the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare Report (BBFAW) 2020, with outstanding ratings in innovation and leadership from its investment in animal feed and animal husbandry research and development. In addition, the launch of developed cage-free laying hen farm which is the first company in Thailand to be certified cage-free laying hen farm standard by the Department of Livestock Development’s. Moreover, the company also gained a high score in performance reporting section from information disclosure and animal welfare promotion systematically./