Opportunities and obstacles implementing animal welfare friendly meat to the Swedish public catering sector

Provision of meat to public catering canteens in Sweden is done through public procurement processes according to the Law of Public Procurement. However, due to the lack of a harmonized assessment standard and policy for communication throughout the supply chain, there is no animal welfare certification or label that contracting authorities can use to verify animal welfare friendly meat, in order to verify that the meat they purchase comes from reliable sources. My question is; is there a future in which animal welfare friendly meat is provided as the norm, to consumers at public canteens? To answer this question, the aim of this thesis was to identify a feasible way for Swedish wholesale dealers who provide food to the public sector, to implement meat originating from a source where animal-based assessments have been made according to the Welfare Quality® project. The findings showed that the top four critical elements to consider for an animal welfare friendly future are: 1. The consciousness and attitude by each stakeholder – a positive attitude among not only supply chain actors but also among the decision makers eases the process to bring animal welfare friendly meat. 2. The local political vision - in order for contracting authorities to work proactively towards bringing animal welfare friendly meat the political vision is fundamental. 3. A united legislation on animal welfare friendly systems in EU - based upon an animal-based assessment standard. 4. The Law of Public Procurement and its stance on an animal welfare friendly production – the requirements that can be set from an animal-based assessment system needs to be compatible with the Law of Public Procurement. Further research on the specific findings is recommended in order to deeper evaluate the needs to implement animal welfare friendly meat to Swedish public catering canteens.