Animal welfare posts the following message:
AN END TO FOIE GRAS ON MIGROS SHELVES!
MIGROS will soon decide whether foie gras, which is cruel to animals, should no longer be offered in the M cooperatives in Valais, Geneva, Neuchâtel-Fribourg, Vaud and Ticino.
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The Swiss-German M cooperatives have been doing without it for years, and competitor Coop has even been doing so since the mid-1990s! It would therefore be time for the MIGROS cooperatives in French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino to ban foie gras from their shelves.
I hope this won't be a discussion at Migros - it's simply DISCUSSIONLESS that this kind of bland product does NOT belong on the shelves of a supplier with your reputation. Week after week, you draw attention in the Migros magazine to how sustainable your products are, that you are committed to animal welfare at home and abroad and that you are committed to youth for the environment as part of Generation M. I can't understand it. I also don't understand the argument that the strong D-CH Migros has no influence on the Migros cooperatives in Ticino and French-speaking Switzerland - surely pressure is possible there! Please take this stuff out of your range - you owe it to the animals!!!!
All replies (23)
Guest
Perhaps Swiss Animal Protection will manage to do what Migipedia has failed to do (at least so far), namely abolish stuffed foie gras, see the discussion at https://community.migros.ch/m/Aktuelles-und-Neuigkeiten/Gestopfte-G%C3%A4nseleber/m-p/329217#U329217. Of course, the head office could put more pressure on the cooperatives in western Switzerland if they wanted to.
Guest
... Why don't you take a vote on Migipedia to see whether users are in favor of stuffed foie gras in the range instead of product launches that are generally only moderately innovative or have been available from the competition for a long time.
Guest
Hello everyone
Thank you very much for your messages. We can say the following:
Migros has not sold foie gras specialties in its national range for several years. However, the four cooperatives in French-speaking Switzerland and the cooperative in Ticino offer foie gras specialties in their regional range.
One of Migros' most important strengths is its cooperative structure. A structure whose operation is guaranteed by the democratic model. This is the reason why Migros respects and adapts to regional characteristics.
In French-speaking Switzerland, demand for foie gras is high towards the end of the year. It is a quintessentially French custom to serve this delicacy during the festive season. The cooperatives in French-speaking Switzerland meet this demand and sell foie gras of exceptionally high quality.
The Migros Geneva, Migros Vaud, Migros Valais and Migros Neuchâtel-Fribourg cooperatives sell Delpeyrat and Labeyrie products. The livers come exclusively from small producers in the south-west of France. These articles are produced in a special Migros facility: The fatteners who are approved within this program must adhere to strict requirements in terms of animal welfare. And the specifications include the strictest requirements in the industry worldwide.
It is developed in collaboration with Swiss veterinarians, and Migros and Swiss Quality Testing Service carry out the inspections. Animal welfare in the production of our products is of course one of our main concerns, although the requirements and guidelines that ensure continuous improvement remain a constant challenge.
Migros has set itself the goal of applying the strict Swiss animal welfare guidelines to all its products from abroad by the end of 2020. For the production of rabbits and turkeys, Migros has already implemented the guidelines, which guarantee animal husbandry that is just as respectful as in Switzerland, with partners in Hungary.
The next step concerns the import of chicken. Since March 2015, the fresh chicken meat sold in Migros has come exclusively from farms that work in accordance with Swiss animal welfare guidelines.
Kind regards
Tanja
Dear Tanja
Thank you for your comments - even if they disappoint me. I cannot understand animal welfare or animal suffering on the back of the cooperative idea. Somewhere in the cooperative there is also a body that decides - and issues/must issue regulations! Migros has taken on a pioneering role in environmental and animal protection - and here it shifts the responsibility onto the cooperatives. Somehow they can always find an excuse and come out clean in the end. Too bad.
And the suggestion that veterinarians are helping to develop a program for fattening geese that focuses on animal welfare ... and ends up producing foie gras - that seems pretty absurd to me. For me, fattening animals and animal welfare are two points of view that are NOT compatible. And I hope that my vet would never, ever, ever take part in something like that.
Honestly, for once I am bitterly disappointed with Migros. I can't understand it. Neither from you as a supplier, nor from the company as a buyer. What a shame.
Kind regards
Marianne
Guest
This means that stuffed foie gras will no longer be available by 2020 at the latest - the Swiss animal welfare regulations should also apply to products from abroad by this time, as stuffed foie gras and similar products are banned in Switzerland. Why wait so long? I find this attitude contradictory.
Migros' "federally elastic" structure or not, it is unacceptable for individual cooperatives to torpedo Migros' market presence (Generation M, sustainability).
What value the ten cooperatives have for me as a customer would also be an interesting question of principle. For example, even without regional cooperatives, the main competition has just as many local specialties in its range.
Guest
As long as consumer demand is so high, not much is likely to change. Each and every one of us needs to take a look at ourselves and set a good example. The first step is to avoid "animal cruelty products" and the next step is to reduce meat/fish etc.
Hello Tanja
"...sell foie gras of exceptionally high quality"
What exactly does that mean? The geese don't have a tube rammed down their throats?
Greetings moz
Terrible! The animals cannot defend themselves, absolutely intolerable.
I think that all Migros should NOT offer this product any more and this throughout Switzerland, WITHOUT exception or demand.
Guest
Hello moz79
First of all, we sell duck livers, not goose livers. The duck liver market is much smaller and therefore more controlled. Migros has issued the strictest guidelines for production in the world and - as already mentioned - has worked these out with veterinarians. Production is regularly inspected.
Kind regards
Tanja
