Better Life Label – Dutch way to improve animal welfare through the market

The Better Life label (Beter Leven keurmerk) aims to improve the welfare of millions of farm animals through the market. This label was introduced in 2007 by the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals. It offers an alternative between regular and organic farming methods.

Criteria

To participate, farmers are required to adhere to a specific set of criteria. These welfare criteria have been defined for laying hens, broiler chickens, pigs, beef cattle, calves, dairy cattle, turkeys and rabbits. The Better Life label can be found on the packaging of meat, dairy products and eggs. It is a consumer facing label. The label makes use of a star system that indicates the extent to which animal welfare has been taken into account. There are three levels of animal welfare, each represented by one, two or three stars.

How does it work?

Currently the Better Life label is the fastest-growing and best known food quality label in the Netherlands. The number of farms and businesses embracing the  label is growing every year. For a quick scan through  the work of Better Life label please download our One Pager.

To learn more about our label in a nutshell, please read this document ‘A conscious choice. Introduction to the Better Life label’.

Our role

The Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals is a Dutch based and oriented organisation.

The Better Life label can serve as a means of inspiration to other initiatives in other countries to improve animal welfare through the market. It is not our mission to be present on non-Dutch speaking consumer markets, but we are willing to serve as a B2B label given certain conditions. Curious? Please send an e-mail to blk.internationaal@dierenbescherming.nl or info@sblk.nl with your query.

Show me!

Curious to see what a Better Life for  the animals looks like? Take this opportunity to have a look in an one-star Better Life broiler farm (VR-video UK or VR-video DE) or a three-star Better Life pig farm (VR-video UK or VR-video DE).

Please find out what others have to say about the Better Life label

For more information on Method-of-Production Labelling please read this document ‘Labelling of Animal Source Foods’

For German information about the Better Life label, please click here.