New report shows slow progress from largest
U.S. grocery retailers and identifies emerging private label
options as public demands alternatives to factory-farmed
products
NEW
YORK, Aug. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As consumers
continue to demand higher welfare food options, the ASPCA® (The
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today
launched the latest ASPCA Supermarket Scorecard, the only consumer
resource that ranks grocery retailers in the United States on multiple farm animal
welfare issues. The scorecard is part of the ASPCA's Shop with Your
Heart® program, launched in 2016 to inform consumers, food
businesses and lawmakers about solutions that will improve the
lives of animals raised for food. Building on last year's inaugural
scorecard, which evaluated supermarkets on three critical animal
welfare issues in their supply chains—cage confinement of laying
hens, crate confinement of pregnant pigs, and both the treatment
and breed health of chickens raised for meat—this second annual
report includes additional retailers and a new assessment of
whether companies are eliminating the most inhumane farming
practices from their own private labels.
This year's findings show that some stores are heeding the
public cry for change in our food system by progressing on their
promises to eliminate inhumane practices from store shelves and are
incorporating higher welfare products into their private lines.
Several retailers are offering private-label products at lower
prices than independent brands that are using industrial practices
like caging. For the second year, Whole Foods Market®
and Sprouts Farmers Market® scored highest while many
retailers fell further behind by failing to address farm animal
welfare. Additional insights include:
- Four Supermarket Chains Have Made Progress Since Last
Year: Four stores are advancing on their promises to eliminate
confinement in their supply chains: Albertsons®, Key
Food®, The Kroger Co.® and
Safeway®. These stores either improved their farm animal
welfare policies or reported progress since last year.
- Eggs Lead Higher Welfare Private-Label Options: All
evaluated stores except Piggly Wiggly® were found to
offer cage-free, private-label eggs while nine supermarkets also
stock at least some store-brand pork products that are gestation
crate-free.
- Four Grocery Retailers Lag Behind: Unlike their peers,
Piggly Wiggly, Save A Lot®, Trader Joe's® and
Winn-Dixie® have still made no storewide commitments to
address critical farm animal welfare issues in the future, despite
growing public demand and the increasing availability of higher
welfare options.
Most of the nearly 10 billion animals raised for food in the
U.S. endure suffering on industrial facilities known as factory
farms that contribute to climate change, public health risks and
rural economic decline. Results from a national public opinion
survey found that most of the public (91 percent) want companies to
address the treatment of farm animals and the environment as a part
of their corporate sustainability programs, with most willing to
switch supermarkets if they learned that theirs did not offer more
humane alternatives to factory-farmed food. Progressive Grocer's
2024 Consumer Expenditures Study found that one-third of shoppers
are buying more store brands and consider ethical sourcing to be
very important, making higher welfare private-label products a
prime opportunity for supermarkets to earn and keep customer
loyalty.
"Stores that hope to appeal to the growing number of consumers
who are concerned about animal welfare can no longer ignore the
plight of farmed animals―and for those supermarkets, there's no
better place to start than their own private labels," said
Nancy Roulston, senior director
of corporate policy & animal scientist, ASPCA Farm Animal
Welfare. "By choosing which products fill their shelves,
supermarkets determine the welfare of billions of animals and the
survival of higher welfare farms across the country, so it has
never been more urgent that they set strong animal welfare policies
and reliably offer shoppers more humanely raised products."
As part of the ASPCA's work to support more humane farming, the
scorecard is designed to encourage supermarkets to source from the
growing number of egg, pork and chicken brands that have invested
in higher welfare standards, including the hundreds of products
that appear on the ASPCA's Shop With Your Heart Grocery List.
"Pete & Gerry's® and Nellie's® Free Range egg brands were
built on two principles: hen welfare and supporting family farmers.
We applaud the ASPCA for its role in animal welfare education and
believe that when consumers understand the different ways animals
are treated, they make better choices," said Tom Flocco, CEO of Pete & Gerry's.
"Whether Free Range or Pasture Raised, all our hens have access to
the outdoors and are never caged, making for happier, healthier
hens and better eggs."
"Every purchase of gestation crate free pork at the grocery
store directly invests in not just a better life for the animal but
also better lives for family farmers raising animals the right way
while supporting communities throughout rural America," said
Paul Willis, founding hog farmer
of Niman Ranch, a network of
over 600 Certified Humane® farms and ranches. "I applaud those
grocers who are listening to consumer demand by carrying higher
welfare meats and hope to see more retailers follow their lead to
support a better food system."
"For the past 16 years we have invested in higher welfare
chicken breeds, recognizing that these animals' welfare is deeply
connected to their genetics, and that today's customers are looking
for more humanely raised chicken," said David Pitman, owner of Mary's Free
Range Chicken. "We are proud to offer our
pasture-raised Mary's heirloom chicken using the Pioneer breed and
free-range Mary's Legacy chicken, both approved by the Better
Chicken Commitment, and we hope more supermarkets across the
country will offer shoppers higher welfare chicken."
To learn more about the ASPCA's work with companies to help
create more humane policies for farm animals and find interactive
resources to bring your store on board, visit
ASPCA.org/SupermarketScorecard.
About the ASPCA®
Founded in 1866, the ASPCA® (The
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) was the
first animal welfare organization to be established in North America and today serves as the nation's
leading voice for vulnerable and victimized animals. As a 501(c)(3)
not-for-profit corporation with more than two million supporters
nationwide, the ASPCA is committed to preventing cruelty to dogs,
cats, equines, and farm animals throughout the United States. The
ASPCA assists animals in need through on-the-ground disaster and
cruelty interventions, behavioral rehabilitation, animal placement,
legal and legislative advocacy, and the advancement of the
sheltering and veterinary community through research, training, and
resources. For more information, visit www.ASPCA.org, and follow
the ASPCA on Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok.
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SOURCE ASPCA®