The Humane League Lauds Company For Leading On Animal Welfare
(New York, NY, August 24, 2021) — Sprouts Farmers Market, one of the fastest-growing retailers in the country, made a groundbreaking animal welfare policy commitment that addresses all aspects of the Better Chicken Commitment. These new animal welfare sourcing standards demonstrate Sprouts’ leadership on animal welfare in the retail industry and will dramatically improve the lives of millions of chickens.
The new commitment includes a timeline for providing meaningful and measurable sourcing
standards for the chickens raised for consumption in its own-brand fresh chicken, one-pan meals, full-service case, and roasted deli offering. Sprouts’ phased approach would provide enrichments by 2024, reduce stocking density by 2025, and allow for more humane slaughter, through controlled-atmosphere stunning, by 2026. The retailer also recognizes “the welfare issues experienced by conventional breeds of chickens raised for meat” and will continue to explore how to adopt higher welfare breeds.
“With this recent decision, Sprouts is recognizing that more can be done to ensure chickens do not live a life of agony on today’s industrial farms. There is now a clear precedent for other grocery chains across the country that are still neglecting to adopt animal welfare standards,” said David Coman-Hidy, President of The Humane League. “We applaud Sprouts for its leadership on this issue and look forward to a continued partnership with the company.”
These new standards, which follow two years of engagement with The Humane League and other organizations, will impact Sprouts’ more than 360 locations across 23 states spanning from coast to coast.
Just this month, Kroger, Natural Grocers, and Giant Eagle also publicly adopted the Better Chicken Commitment. The retailers join more than 200 major US food companies, including Whole Foods, Nestlé, Kraft-Heinz, Burger King, and Chipotle, that have agreed to implement the changes laid out in the Better Chicken Commitment. The Humane League encourages other US retailers, including Costco, Wegmans, Trader Joe’s, and Albertsons, to commit to the same meaningful changes in their supply chains.
The Better Chicken Commitment is the leading set of science-based animal welfare standards for improving conditions for chickens raised for meat. The policy includes a switch to higher welfare breeds of chickens, as well as a transition away from the cruel industry standard of live-shackle slaughter. It also gives each bird more space in the barn, provides enrichments to promote natural behaviors, and enforces a process for third-party auditing.
For more information about what the Sprouts commitment means for animals, click here.
About The Humane League
The Humane League is a global animal protection nonprofit that exists to end the abuse of animals raised for food. Since its founding in 2005, The Humane League has focused on effectively ending the worst abuses in factory farming, securing strong animal welfare commitments from major foodservice providers, restaurants, food manufacturers, and hospitality leaders around the world, changing the lives of billions of farm animals suffering every day.
