July 16, 2012

Sodexo moves to eliminate gestation crates

Sodexo Inc. will require its pork suppliers to provide plans in disposing gestation crates from their farms, as well as from their contracted pork operations, the Humane Society of the United States reveals.

As part of the procurement process, Sodexo will ask all primary pork suppliers for its North American operations to provide actionable plans to phase out gestation crates by 2017; the plans would need to take effect by 2022.

"Creating a more sustainable supply chain that includes best practices in animal welfare is extremely complex for any business where the strategic sourcing priority is to serve specific client needs. It is further complicated by the fact that Sodexo is not directly involved in the care, management or processing of farm animals," Jim Pazzanese, vice president of supply management for Sodexo, said in a statement. "Despite these challenges, Sodexo recognises animal welfare as an important component for a sustainable supply chain."

HSUS has put out 15 press releases about gestation crates since the beginning of 2012, and the vast majority of those releases announce a foodservice company, grocer or processor's decision to phase out the crates.

Since February, other leading food companies, including McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Denny's, Cracker Barrel, Sonic, Kroger, Safeway and Compass Group, have announced various moves toward sourcing pork from suppliers that do not use gestation stalls.