Today, Danish Crown has informed the Danish Supreme Court that we are responding affirmatively to the claims made by the Climate Movement in Denmark and the Danish Vegetarian Association in the case about the use of the expressions "Climate-controlled pig" and "Danish pig is more climate-friendly than you think."
Thus, Danish Crown accepts that, when we used the aforementioned statements, we did not comply with the requirements of the marketing law, and also accepts a ban on using these statements in any marketing going forward.
Since the lawsuit was initiated, we have emphasised that it is crucial for us and the rest of the business world to be able to communicate our climate actions in order to differentiate ourselves and make climate effort a good business – and we still believe this. At the same time, the long and thorough process in the Western High Court has led to both healthy reflections and a useful debate about the boundaries when a company needs to communicate about sustainability. There is no doubt that we have learned from the lawsuit in the Western High Court.
Since we withdrew the campaign in 2021, our stance has been that we – regardless of the court's decision – would and will continue to refrain from using the expressions "Danish pig is more climate-friendly than you think" or "Climate-controlled pig" in the marketing of our products. Therefore, we also accept the plaintiffs' claim to the Supreme Court that the specific promotions in question were a violation of the marketing law.
A lawsuit across several instances is demanding on many fronts. We now wish to look forward and instead focus our efforts on transitioning to a less climate-impacting production. In these efforts, we will naturally communicate about our climate actions within the framework of the Western High Court's decision and this affirmative response to the plaintiffs' other claims.
This means that we will also continue to communicate about our climate actions in Danish Crown, but of course with great attention to ensuring that the promotions in our marketing reflect the guidelines that have been clarified in connection with the lawsuit.