It is no secret that consumers are demanding greater transparency regarding animal welfare, environmental and health implications of the food they buy, requiring companies to step up their sustainability efforts. FOUR PAWS conducted a ranking on selected global leading food producers, focusing on ready meals*, and found that while some companies are implementing the increase of plant-based foods, their efforts towards meat and dairy reduction are insufficient. To drive impactful change, food producers must integrate their meat and dairy reduction targets into their long-term strategies, making firm commitments towards animal welfare and climate mitigation goals to help end factory farming.

This ranking is the ninth edition of the Atlas Challenge ranking series and is based on FOUR PAWS’ assessment (between July and November 2024). It provides a clear understanding of the eleven targeted food producers’ performance and strategy, focusing on three different categories:

1. Meat and dairy reduction and climate goals
2. Animal welfare
3. Plant-based food increase.

The below ranking shows the targeted food producers of ready meals and how they compared to each other:

A reduction in meat and dairy production and consumption along with an increase in plant-based foods, would not only lower the numbers of farmed animals in factory farms, and thus reduce animal suffering, but also dramatically decrease negative environmental impacts from the food industry.  

For an overview of the criteria and scoring methodology, please click here.

^{* The latest ranking compares producers of frozen, chilled or canned ready-to-eat meals and soups in a pre-cooked form that require little to no cooking or other preparation like frozen dinners, pizzas or stews. FOUR PAWS excluded instant ready meals such as packet soups and cup noodles as their content of meat and dairy is comparably low. Food on the go like sandwiches and wraps are not included either. Fresh cut salad, frozen vegetables and cut fruit are not part of the ready meal portfolio in general.}