DO & CO, a Vienna-based catering company serving over 180 million meals annually across 12 countries in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia, has established several animal welfare policies that address the sourcing of farmed and wild-caught seafood, poultry, and pork. The policies represent one of the most comprehensive welfare frameworks adopted by the travel food service sector, encompassing in-flight catering for major carriers including British Airways, Delta, KLM, Iberia, Etihad Airways, Austrian Airlines, Aeromexico, Turkish Airlines, and JetBlue, alongside food service for sports arenas, tournaments, restaurants, hotels, and gourmet shops.
“DO & CO’s establishment of comprehensive animal welfare standards for chickens, pigs, fish, and other animals in its global seafood supply chain represents a significant advancement in corporate responsibility within the food service industry,” said Astrid Duque, Sustainability Program Director at Lever Foundation, which helped develop the policies.
Seafood welfare standards
DO & CO’s farmed fish and crustacean standards require suppliers to meet RSPCA Assured, Global Animal Partnership, or Naturland certifications, establishing requirements for stocking density, environmental enrichment, and handling practices. Standards mandate daily monitoring of water conditions, disease, and mortality rates, while requiring humane percussive or electrical stunning before slaughter and prohibiting mutilations including eyestalk ablation in crustaceans.
Wild-caught seafood sourcing standards prohibit catch systems resulting in significant bycatch or animal welfare concerns while limiting time aquatic animals spend in water and out of water during capture and processing. The standards recognize welfare challenges distinct to wild-caught operations where capture methods and handling practices substantially impact animal welfare outcomes.
“As a significant purchaser of seafood products across multiple continents, DO & CO’s concrete new commitment for both farmed and wild-caught fish and crustaceans is setting a meaningful benchmark for the industry,” Duque said. “It demonstrates that companies operating globally can and should take meaningful action to improve the welfare of aquatic animals in their supply chains, just as most have already done for animals such as pigs, chickens, and cows.”
Chicken and pig welfare commitments
DO & CO’s chicken sourcing requirements mandate compliance with either the European Chicken Commitment or Better Chicken Commitment standards. Both frameworks require improved stocking densities enabling natural behaviors, environmental enrichments including perches and pecking objects, sufficient lighting, appropriate litter, and humane slaughter practices. The standards address significant welfare concerns in conventional broiler production including leg disorders, ascites, and inability to engage in natural behaviors due to overcrowding.
Meanwhile, pork sourcing standards implemented by 2030 prohibit gestation crates and sow stalls while eliminating farrowing crates, addressing some of the most restrictive confinement systems in animal agriculture. Standards ban tail docking, require anesthesia for castration procedures, and mandate adequate litter and environmental enrichments enabling pigs to express natural behaviors including rooting and nesting. The prohibitions target practices that compromise animal welfare while providing operational benefits through reduced injury and illness.
“We’re pleased to see DO & CO taking concrete action to eliminate the most restrictive confinement systems and improve conditions for pigs, and we hope this will inspire other companies in the catering and travel food service sectors to adopt similar standards,” Duque said.
Beyond animal welfare improvements, DO & CO’s policy directs chefs across global locations to increase plant-based protein usage, including lentils, chickpeas, black beans, pea protein, tempeh, tofu, and plant-based dairy products in place of animal-derived ingredients wherever possible. The directive reflects a growing consumer shift toward plant-based foods as a mechanism for reducing animal agriculture impacts.
