Feed of the Future: Transparent and Traceable

The report highlights the 'black box' nature of the animal feed industry, where complex supply chains and proprietary formulations mask risks such as deforestation, human rights abuses, and high greenhouse gas emissions. To address this, WWF and Grieg Seafood developed an ESG screen for feed ingredients, initially tested on salmon aquaculture, to standardize data requests and enable 'apples-to-apples' risk comparisons. The tool aims to move the industry toward greater traceability and is intended for expansion into other animal protein sectors like swine and poultry.

• Animal feed supply chains are characterized by extreme opacity, with producers often unaware of the specific sources and practices associated with their ingredients due to proprietary formulations and complex tiers of suppliers.
• The lack of transparency in feed sourcing hides significant ESG risks, including slavery, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, and deforestation, particularly concerning soy and palm oil.
• Greenhouse gas emissions for feed ingredients vary drastically based on production systems and geography, meaning that using regional averages for ESG assessments is inadequate and can mask the impact of poor performers.
• WWF and Grieg Seafood developed a B2B ESG screen to standardize information requests to feed companies, allowing buyers to make consistent risk comparisons across ingredients and suppliers.
• The ESG screen evaluates ingredients across 13 categories, including climate footprint, restorative land use, basic human rights, and fisheries management.
• Feed represents a dominant portion of the total greenhouse gas emissions for certain animal proteins, accounting for approximately 70% of emissions in the salmon industry and around 75% in the poultry industry.
• The tool is intended to evolve from an Excel spreadsheet to a cloud-based platform to reduce human error and is being expanded beyond salmon to include shrimp, tilapia, pangasius, swine, and poultry sectors.

APA

WWF International (n.d.). Feed of the Future: Transparent and Traceable. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/537/8l8joioeex_DEVINE_Grieg_ESG_Screen_08_23_v7.pdf

Chicago

WWF International. Feed of the Future: Transparent and Traceable. n.d. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/537/8l8joioeex_DEVINE_Grieg_ESG_Screen_08_23_v7.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=WWF International |title=Feed of the Future: Transparent and Traceable |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/537/8l8joioeex_DEVINE_Grieg_ESG_Screen_08_23_v7.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wwfinternationalndfeed, author = {{WWF International}}, title = {{Feed of the Future: Transparent and Traceable}}, institution = {WWF International}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/537/8l8joioeex_DEVINE_Grieg_ESG_Screen_08_23_v7.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }