Coles Brand Sow Stall Free Pork - Coles

I'm standing here with Jackie Healing,
who's the Head of Quality and Responsible Sourcing at Coles.
Now, that sounds like a very important title.
What does it mean, Responsible Sourcing?
It means that whenever we buy any products for Coles
to sell to our customers,
we look to do it in the best way we can
for the animals or the environment or the oceans,
depending on where the food's coming from.
Right, great.
So it's not just about employing an incredible person like me.
-No. Or me. -And that's responsible sourcing.
So when you're talking about animal welfare,
we've worked on two major initiatives.
What are they?
They're the removal of stalls from production of pork.
Uh-huh.
And taking all of our eggs out of cage production as well.
Let's start with that because this is something so close to my heart.
I grew up with chickens in my backyard
and the thought of them being in tiny little cages makes me a little sad.
So what is it?
We've stopped all of the production of cage free eggs?
Yeah, so for Coles Brand eggs, we did have some product in cages
and the birds only have a little bit of space like this.
And we've taken all of the birds making eggs for Coles
out of those cages and they're either in big barns
or they're free to roam in pastures or land.
Then we went out to a farm just recently together.
-We did. Last week. -Free range.
-So they have access to the outside all the time. - Yes, they do.
Because some people have a little bit of a misconception
of what's cage free and what's free range.
So free range they have access to the outside.
They do.
And cage free means that they're kept in a big barn,
so they still have plenty of room to move around.
So in both systems they have the barn.
That's where they live at night because they have to be protected
from the foxes and other things.
And the eagles.
And that's where they lay their eggs as well.
And in the free range system, during daylight hours,
they're allowed to go out and wander round,
come in and out as they want.
-Amazing. -Which they love.
So let's talk about pork.
We're now producing sow stall free pork, right?
-Yes. -So what does that actually mean?
It means that the mother pigs, the sows,
are no longer kept in cages during their pregnancy.
Right, so they're actually free to stand up and move around and...
Yep, so once they're pregnant
and they're going to have the little pigs,
they no longer have to spend the whole of that pregnancy
in a tight cage where they can only really move forwards and backwards.
Right.
We now let them go into loose barns with the other mother pigs
and they can move around and play in the straw and just have more fun.
-More space to move around. -More space.
-It's a good thing, right? -It is.
What do we find in the eating quality of the meat
if we're, you know, treating the animals with better welfare?
Well, we believe that if you look after the animals producing the meat,
you'll get better quality meat.
And certainly you get a better livelihood for the animal.
Absolutely.
So now that we've changed the production of pork,
what does that actually mean for the customer?
Well, it means that they can buy great quality pork
and they can be confident that the animals that have been used
to make that pork have been treated properly.
It's really important to treat the animals with respect.
It sure is. I've always said,
the happier the animals, the better they're treated,
the better the food that we end up getting.
That's it. We believe that too.
Jackie, you've got a very important job
and we're so proud of the work you're doing.
-Thanks so much. -Thank you.