tierwohl.tv Show attitude - strengthen trust

Interview - Jürgen Berens von Rautenfeld, CEO of Online Software AG

Interview with Jürgen Berens von Rautenfeld - tierwohlt.tv

How did tierwohl.tv come about?

BvR: The idea of tierwohl.tv has moved me for more than ten years. These highly non-transparent advertising messages and statements when shopping - especially for meat and eggs. There is an endless jungle of brands and labels, such as organic logos, which supposedly indicate better quality. But if you break this down, you see forms of husbandry that are no longer up to date, terrible animal transport and the well-known meat scandals. These are just a few points that make it clear what is wrong. That moved me. I then got involved with the topic of "tierwohl.tv" and looked for technically feasible and affordable solutions - such as mobile telecoms tariffs for transmission from the pasture. Ultimately, we want to open up something that society has wanted for a long time: well-reared livestock and products that taste good, not the cheapest piece of meat. It's about transparency.

And when did tierwohl.tv launch?

It became a reality four years ago. By the time we had solved all the technical challenges and went live with the first farmers and retailers, it was 2019. After all, the images are all sent live, stable and without any changes to the content from the pasture, from the barn directly to the retailer. This gives the customer a direct insight into the husbandry conditions. This is our shared understanding of transparency.

Does the proximity to the animal welfare label bother you or is this not an issue?

It neither disturbs nor helps the proximity. The well-known labelling of livestock farming methods comes from Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH (QS), the former CMA. The QS label is the most basic level of meat labelling. It is a label that is strongly supported by the large discounters. The forms of husbandry on which this form of husbandry is based and which have been defined by QS, or more precisely by QS's own animal welfare initiative, are 80 % husbandry forms 1 and 2. These husbandry conditions are significantly lower than those that farmers provide at tierwohl.tv. Straw pigs - i.e. animals that are kept on straw with fresh air and exercise - clearly exceed these animal welfare labels. This also applies to all the other breeders and farmers with their chickens and cattle who have opted for tierwohl.tv. It's good that someone is defining forms of husbandry at all. But one of our first farmers, Willi Steffens from Pötterhof in Brüggen-Bracht, has his own definition of husbandry type 10 (laughs). He himself left the Animal Welfare Initiative some time ago because he says, "I have much higher standards. As long as his farm animals are alive, he wants to treat them responsibly from A to Z as animals and not as a cost factor.

Now Aldi and Lidl have announced that they will be phasing out husbandry systems 1 and 2 in the near future? Is there a trend reversal?

Aldi describes itself as the largest organic retailer in Germany, which is of course a lot of EU organic and goods that come from even further afield. These are not all products that are produced according to the German Bioland, Naturland or Demeter criteria. Aldi has made a good move and firmly believes in it. But there is one thing that the large discounters cannot do systemically: genuine regionality. This is usually a profiling segment for regional retailers and butchers. Aldi has at least started to overtake them in terms of communication. Whether they can achieve this with Mr Tönnies, who is one of their main suppliers, is at least questionable. Lidl introduced Bioland two years ago. But this is not necessarily met with enthusiasm by many Bioland members, who fear a dilution of quality.

Animal welfare, Faitrade, Regionalfenster, organic labels and the like: the consumer can no longer see through it all. How can the quality offered by the partners connected to tierwohl.tv fit into the world of different labels?

Certainly as different as our farmers. We don't want to categorise them. But I have heard several times in discussion groups that retailers talk about "tierwohl.tv" quality. This means that the retailers perceive this as particularly good quality. And we often visit each farm and check that what the customer sees in the shop corresponds to the average way chickens, pigs and cattle are kept on the farm in question. We know the farmers and their families personally. We also realise that the stables are gradually becoming more species-appropriate after the launch. This shows us that when investments are made, the whole project pays off. And not just for the animals!

They offer farmers a stage ...

Yes, and this stage is being utilised. We give it the attention of consumers. The screens on the shelves and counters of retailers allow them to position themselves against the anonymous goods all around them. The farmer has new development opportunities, regional, valuable sales and invests part of the income in the further development of the stables and rearing. That is entirely in our interests. This is also not greenwashing, but a development opportunity for the producer and his animals. The retailer and ultimately, of course, the consumer also benefit. It's also about the fact that when customers see the live images, e.g. of the straw pigs on the screen at the counter, they get talking to the specialist employee and learn more about how they are kept. This allows the customer to make up their own mind about how they want to feed themselves and what consequences this will have for the animals.

What other consequences does the producer have?

The farmer increases his sales. He achieves higher prices. In my opinion, one of the fairest methods of pricing is to take the spot price for pigs, for example, as a guide and add a range on top. In the case of pigs, this is at least 50 to 70 cents more per kilo for a conventionally reared straw pig compared to rearing type 1 in the QS classification. It is significantly higher for organic pigs. This leads to higher yields for farmers and greater investment in stables and livestock farming.

What does the retailer gain apart from a better reputation?

This is financially worthwhile for each of the participating retailers. Not to mention the image factor. After all, a good regional retailer has business relationships with up to 100 producers. If one or two of them are then emphasised in such a way through live broadcasts on screens in the market, this has a knock-on effect on their entire product range. It also meets the expectations of consumers, 78 % of whom expect agriculture to be orientated towards animal welfare, as the current nutritional study by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) for 2021 shows. Incidentally, this figure has been increasing significantly for years. As the better products shown on tierwohl.tv generally have higher sales prices and therefore a higher margin for the retailer, this pays off economically. It also helps the retailer to argue with other producers that they also supply higher quality. The retailer therefore benefits financially and can impose a better standard on other suppliers in the medium term.

Can you put a figure on it?

Studies are currently underway to determine the mechanisms of action. For example, we are receiving feedback from affiliated producers that the additional volume effect is 20 to 50 % more of this better quality in eggs. And retailers can see that sales increase with a monitor above the egg shelf, which also speaks in favour of gaining new customers. After all, your conscience also buys.

Is organic always orientated towards animal welfare?

That's not true. There are also large organic farms where the animal is a number, a cost factor. Depending on the certifier, the organic criteria are fulfilled, but it is not necessarily animal welfare. Other associations, such as Neuland, prioritise animal welfare, but not organic. So it doesn't always have to be organic. The winner here is the consumer, who gets a different taste experience if he or she is guided by a high animal welfare standard.

But now to a crucial issue: what does it cost the farmer and the retailer if they decide in favour of tierwohl.tv?

Including installation, a farmer has to calculate with one-off costs of around 3,500 euros for a farm camera or around 5,000 euros for two cameras, which are installed in a wind and weatherproof manner and are maintenance-free. In addition, there are upload fees of 50 euros per month per camera, regardless of how many markets are being broadcast to.

And what about the markets?

There are initial costs for the screens and installation by local installers. There are also downstream costs of around 10 euros per month for each live channel. If customers don't just want to watch the animals at the counter, they can download the free tierwohl.tv app onto their smartphone and continue watching the animals at home.

Is there an tierwohl.tv community?

We are currently benefiting greatly from word-of-mouth recommendations from retailers and producers. This is why regional clusters are currently being created in Germany, as you can see on our app. You can also find all participating markets and farms there. Here, not only retailers are increasingly networking with farmers, but also tierwohl.tv farmers with each other. According to the motto: "How do you do it?" and "How can I do it better?". I think there is a good chance that we will be able to build a community for tierwohl.tv in future via the app, the website and our Instagram channel.

Mr Berens von Rautenfeld, thank you for this interview.
Hans-Christoph Noack, business journalist

https://tierwohl.tv

Online Software AG

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