Morning deliveries arrive at a METRO wholesale depot in Düsseldorf. Staff unload crates of fresh fish and crustaceans—prawns, salmon, tuna. These products head to restaurants and hotels across Germany. Starting now, every fish and crustacean in METRO’s own-brand products arrives stunned before slaughter. No more suffocation in ice slurries. No more being cut open alive.

Meanwhile, Pret a Manger locations across Europe and beyond now follow a new comprehensive animal welfare policy. The policy covers every species in the company’s supply chain. For seafood welfare, this means humane slaughter requirements. It also prohibits cruel practices like eyestalk ablation. Two global food companies operating over 1,400 stores and locations combined are setting new standards for how the industry treats aquatic animals.

METRO AG Sets New Wholesale Standards

METRO AG operates over 700 stores and depots across 21 countries. The company serves 17 million professional customers annually through its METRO and MAKRO brands. The company’s updated Animal Health and Welfare Position statement adds a critical requirement. Specifically, all fish and crustaceans sourced for own-brand seafood products must receive humane stunning via mechanical or electrical methods before slaughter.

Additionally, the policy asks the company’s shrimp suppliers—both own-brand and branded—to avoid eyestalk ablation. These improvements will benefit tens of millions of fish and hundreds of millions of crustaceans annually.

“We recognise animals as sentient beings,” METRO AG noted in its updated statement. “We strive to increase quality of life for animals by balancing mental and physical well-being as well as natural behaviour, wherever reasonable. For own-brand products, we aim to ensure 100% humane stunning prior to slaughtering. This minimises anxiety, pain and suffering and the distress experienced by animals. This provision also applies to all fish and crustacean products. Only mechanical or electrical stunning are approved as stunning methods.”

The context makes METRO’s policy particularly significant. Currently, many fish and crustaceans in the global food supply chain face slaughter without stunning. Workers cut them open alive or leave them to suffocate in open air or in ice slurries. Consequently, METRO’s new requirements represent a fundamental shift in seafood welfare standards for the wholesale sector.

Pret A Manger Implements Comprehensive Protections

Pret A Manger operates over 700 locations worldwide. The company released a comprehensive animal welfare policy covering all animals in its food and drink supply chain. This includes birds such as laying hens, chickens, turkeys and ducks. It covers aquatic animals such as salmon, tuna, prawns, lobster and crayfish. The policy also addresses land mammals such as pigs, dairy cattle, beef cattle, and goats.

For seafood welfare specifically, the policy requires humane slaughter for all fish and crustaceans. It prohibits mutilations such as eyestalk ablation. Furthermore, the policy sets key quality-of-life protections. It requires suppliers to meet the standards of established seafood welfare certification programs.

For farmed seafood, this ensures good water quality. It guarantees appropriate environments and stocking densities. The policy also requires effective measures to prevent disease and reduce mortality. Research indicates that current industrial aquaculture and fishing practices often involve prolonged suffering. This ranges from overcrowding and disease in farms to hours-long capture times and slaughter without stunning. Pret’s new policy addresses these issues directly.

“Pret recognises animals are sentient beings,” the company noted in its public policy statement. “Good animal welfare encompasses not only good health and physical wellbeing, but good mental wellbeing and the ability to express species-specific behaviour. Through this policy, our aim is to set an ambitious set of standards for our business to work towards. This will help drive accountability and action, both for Pret and our supply chain and franchise partners.”

The policy applies to both company-owned and franchise shops. It covers Pret’s key markets: Europe and North America as well as Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Industry Leadership Drives Broader Change

“We commend METRO AG for strengthening its animal welfare standards,” said Astrid Duque, Sustainability Program Director at Lever Foundation. The international NGO worked with both companies on their policies. “METRO AG’s new requirement for humane stunning represents significant progress. It reduces the suffering of hundreds of millions of aquatic animals annually and sets a strong benchmark for other food retailers to follow. We also congratulate Pret A Manger for its excellent new policy. This includes comprehensive protections for the welfare of fish and crustaceans in its global supply chain. Commitments such as this establish uniform welfare protections for all animals in the supply chain. They help companies like Pret meet customer expectations and build brand value while also doing the right thing.”

The momentum builds beyond these two companies. Over the past year, an increasing number of food companies have implemented new seafood welfare policies. These include retailers such as Co-op (UK), Sainsbury’s and Costco. Restaurant brands like Espresso House have also joined. Supply chains adapt. Stunning equipment manufacturers scale production. Suppliers invest in training and infrastructure to meet new requirements. The question facing other food companies becomes not whether to address seafood welfare but when.