Migros cares a great deal about the welfare of animals, and the company's actions demonstrate that again and again. For example, its meat processing operation, Micarna, has been castrating male piglets strictly under anaesthesia since mid-2009 – i.e. since before this procedure became law in early 2010.

Under its label programme, Migros promotes a standard of animal husbandry that exceeds even Switzerland's legal requirements. Under the TerraSuisse label, for example, farmers keep their pigs, cattle, lambs and poultry in animal-friendly stable systems (BTS) with regular opportunities to move about outdoors (RAUS). Calves are housed on straw bedding in groups and are fed a species-appropriate diet of fresh cow's milk and hay.

Problems: Migros reacts immediately

Suppliers are sometimes found to be neglecting animal welfare, and then Migros takes swift action. For instance, it immediately stopped importing rabbit meat from foreign suppliers on learning of problematic rabbit-fattening conditions in Hungary and France.

Migros demanded that the suppliers concerned draw up binding plans for improvement, and tightened inspections. It also joined with rabbit supplier Delimpex in designing a species-appropriate rabbit-farming system. With assistance from Migros, its business partner in Hungary rebuilt an entire rabbit farm in line with the Swiss Federal Ordinance on Animal Welfare (TSchV). Now that the animals are kept in family units, babies get to stay with their mothers for a long time.