Company Expands Commitment to Furthering the Legal, Ethical, and Humane Treatment of Animals Across its Supply Chain
MIAMI, June 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) (the “Company”), a leading global cruise company which operates Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, announced today that it has expanded its commitment to responsible sourcing practices including the legal, ethical and humane treatment of animals within its supply chain. In support of the Company’s global sustainability program, Sail & Sustain, the Company strengthened its efforts with new standards and goals to promote animal welfare and sustainable sourcing across four key areas: chicken, eggs, pork and seafood.
“We are pleased to strengthen our commitment to animal welfare and responsible sourcing with concrete goals around chicken, eggs, pork and seafood. We recognize our responsibility to be good corporate citizens and our unique position to drive a positive impact across our supply chain,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “We do not plan to stop here, and we will continue to engage with our diverse suppliers worldwide to promote and encourage sustainable practices including animal welfare.”
Animal welfare is important to the Company and its stakeholders, and the Company encourages its suppliers to implement procedures to prevent the mistreatment of animals. Current goals are outlined below:
- 100% target for chicken purchased from suppliers in the U.S. and Canada who meet GAP standards by 2024: The Company is currently phasing in updated purchasing policies for chicken using standards from the Global Animal Partnership (GAP). These standards define humane treatment for chicken housing and processing. By 2024, we plan to have all chicken purchased in the U.S. and Canada sourced from suppliers who meet GAP standards.
- 100% target for cage-free eggs from U.S. suppliers by end of 2025: For laying hens, cage-free confinement systems are considered to be more humane as they allow greater freedom of movement and space to express more natural behaviors than conventional methods. That’s why the Company continues to identify and encourage U.S.-based suppliers to use cage-free environments for their hens.
- 100% target for gestation crate-free pork by 2025: The Company is actively engaging with its suppliers to source only pork products that have been raised without the use of gestation crates.
- 100% certified sustainable seafood by 2025: The Company has made strong progress to purchase all seafood from certified sustainable sources. More than half of its worldwide seafood purchases was certified by a recognized certification authority, such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), the Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP), or the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA), in 2019.
“Our strong and diverse supply chain, consisting of nearly 20,000 global suppliers, form the underpinnings of our day-to-day operations,” said Carl Robie, executive vice president of supply chain and logistics of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “It’s a natural step for us to align all levels of our business with our global sustainability program, Sail & Sustain, and we are pleased to not only formally define our Animal Welfare Commitment but also outline our overall Responsible Sourcing Mission Statement. Through these initiatives, we can ensure responsible sourcing practices will remain deeply rooted across our entire organization.”
The Company is working with suppliers to increase availability of cage-free eggs, GAP-certified chicken, gestation crate-free pork and certified sustainable seafood. In the event the supply needed to reach these goals is not available, the Company will continue to work with our supplier partners to continue expanding product availability to meet demand. The Company plans to provide progress updates against these goals in its annual Environmental, Social & Governance report.
Please view more details on the Company’s Animal Welfare goals and roadmap, Animal Welfare Commitment and Responsible Sourcing Mission Statement here.
About Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) is a leading global cruise company which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. With a combined fleet of 28 ships with approximately 60,000 berths, these brands offer itineraries to approximately 500 destinations worldwide. The Company has nine additional ships scheduled for delivery through 2027, comprising approximately 24,000 berths.
About Sail & Sustain
Sail & Sustain is Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ global sustainability program centered around its commitment to drive a positive impact on society and the environment while delivering on its vision to be the vacation of choice for everyone around the world. This program is structured around five pillars developed through cross-functional collaboration with key internal and external stakeholders. The pillars include: Reducing Environmental Impact, Sailing Safely, Empowering People, Strengthening our Communities and Operating with Integrity and Accountability.
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Some of the statements, estimates or projections contained in this release are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 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Examples of these risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to the impact of: the spread of epidemics, pandemics and viral outbreaks and specifically, the COVID-19 pandemic, including its effect on the ability or desire of people to travel (including on cruises), which is expected to continue to adversely impact our results, operations, outlook, plans, goals, growth, reputation, cash flows, liquidity, demand for voyages and share price; implementing precautions in coordination with regulators and global public health authorities to protect the health, safety and security of guests, crew and the communities we visit and to comply with regulatory restrictions related to the pandemic; legislation prohibiting companies from verifying vaccination status; our indebtedness and restrictions in the agreements governing our indebtedness that require us to maintain minimum levels of liquidity and be in compliance with maintenance covenants and otherwise limit our flexibility in operating our business, including the significant portion of assets that are collateral under these agreements; our ability to work with lenders and others or otherwise pursue options to defer, renegotiate, refinance or restructure our existing debt profile, near-term debt amortization, newbuild related payments and other obligations and to work with credit card processors to satisfy current or potential future demands for collateral on cash advanced from customers relating to future cruises; our need for additional financing or financing to optimize our balance sheet, which may not be available on favorable terms, or at all, and our outstanding exchangeable notes and any future financing which may be dilutive to existing shareholders; the unavailability of ports of call; future increases in the price of, or major changes or reduction in, commercial airline services; changes involving the tax and environmental regulatory regimes in which we operate, including new regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions; the accuracy of any appraisals of our assets as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise; our success in controlling operating expenses and capital expenditures; trends in, or changes to, future bookings and our ability to take future reservations and receive deposits related thereto; adverse events impacting the security of travel, such as terrorist acts, armed conflict, such as Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, and threats thereof, acts of piracy, and other international events; adverse incidents involving cruise ships; adverse general economic and related factors, including as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine or otherwise, such as fluctuating or increasing levels of interest rates, inflation, unemployment, underemployment and the volatility of fuel prices, declines in the securities and real estate markets, and perceptions of these conditions that decrease the level of disposable income of consumers or consumer confidence; breaches in data security or other disturbances to our information technology and other networks or our actual or perceived failure to comply with requirements regarding data privacy and protection; changes in fuel prices and the type of fuel we are permitted to use and/or other cruise operating costs; mechanical malfunctions and repairs, delays in our shipbuilding program, maintenance and refurbishments and the consolidation of qualified shipyard facilities; the risks and increased costs associated with operating internationally; our inability to recruit or retain qualified personnel or the loss of key personnel or employee relations issues; our inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage; pending or threatened litigation, investigations and enforcement actions; any further impairment of our trademarks, trade names or goodwill; volatility and disruptions in the global credit and financial markets, which may adversely affect our ability to borrow and could increase our counterparty credit risks, including those under our credit facilities, derivatives, contingent obligations, insurance contracts and new ship progress payment guarantees; our reliance on third parties to provide hotel management services for certain ships and certain other services; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; our expansion into new markets and investments in new markets and land-based destination projects; overcapacity in key markets or globally; and other factors set forth under “Risk Factors” in our most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, many of these risks and uncertainties are currently amplified by and will continue to be amplified by, or in the future may be amplified by, the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risks. There may be additional risks that we consider immaterial or which are unknown. The above examples are not exhaustive and new risks emerge from time to time. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates and projections regarding our present and future business strategies and the environment in which we expect to operate in the future. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change of events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement was based, except as required by law.
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Jessica John
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InvestorRelations@nclcorp.com
