May 2, 2018

Smithfield Foods releases Animal Care section of 2017 sustainability report

Smithfield Foods, Inc. released the Animal Care section of its 2017 Sustainability Report focusing on the company's industry-leading practices to keep animals safe, comfortable, and healthy.

The company will issue its 17th Sustainability Report in segments organised by the pillars of its comprehensive sustainability programme each week during the month of May.

To support the release of the Animal Care section of this new report, Smithfield has also released a new 360-degree virtual reality video, which transports viewers to one of the company's wean-to-finish hog farms. The company leveraged this technology earlier this year to take viewers inside a company sow farm.

The sustainability report provides in-depth information about Smithfield's specific leadership positions in the area of animal care, including: Smithfield as the first company to commit to group housing systems for pregnant sows on company-owned farms. Today, all pregnant sows on company-owned farms globally, including joint ventures in Mexico, are housed in groups; Smithfield as the first and only company in the industry to report antibiotics usage since 2007; Smithfield as the first pork producer to develop and implement a comprehensive and systematic animal welfare management programme; and Smithfield as the first protein company to release virtual reality videos of its hog farms.

"This past year marked a tremendous milestone for Smithfield with the completion of our sow housing conversion," said Stewart Leeth, vice president of regulatory affairs and chief sustainability officer of Smithfield Foods.

"We invested more than US$360 million and ten years into our transition to group housing systems for pregnant sows on company-owned farms and fulfilled that commitment right on schedule in 2017. We were proud to make this commitment a decade ago, a first in the industry, and even prouder now to have fulfilled it."

The report also includes details about Smithfield's ongoing research to investigate alternatives to antibiotics, including a new vaccine research lab, results of internal and third-party animal care audits, and the company's efforts to continually enhance its animal care management system.

"Our approach to animal care is rooted in the fundamental philosophy that the healthier our animals, the healthier our company," said Kenneth M. Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods.

"Our bold initiatives create value for our business, our contract growers and supply chain partners, as well as the industry as a whole. Our animal care practices and policies underpin our focus on producing good food the right way."