Animal Welfare
Kraft Heinz believes that animals deserve a good quality of life and should be treated with care. We strive for the humane care of animals in our supply chain.
Source 100% of eggs globally from cage-free or better* hens by 2025.
64%
Source 100% of eggs in Europe from free-range hens by 2020.
100%
Improve broiler chicken welfare in the U.S. by 2024 and European chicken commitment by 2026.
Although Kraft Heinz does not own or operate farms, we align with our suppliers on these aims by prioritizing continuous improvement in animal care and requiring that their animals be treated with care, understanding, and respect.
Kraft Heinz believes that good animal welfare includes three elements which guide our animal welfare policies and initiatives:
- Health and Productivity: healthy animals that are provided with quality shelter, feed, and water;
- Emotional Well-Being: negative experiences minimized and positive experiences enhanced
- Naturalness: animals perform important species-specific behaviors
This concept of animal welfare builds upon the internationally recognized “Five Freedoms” of animal welfare which include the fundamental principles of 1) freedom from hunger and thirst, 2) freedom from physical and thermal discomfort, 3) freedom from pain, injury, or disease, 4) freedom to express normal behaviors, and 5) freedom from fear and distress.
We continue to work with animal welfare experts and suppliers on best practices to eliminate painful procedures and promote sustainable production practices. We support housing designs that allow animals to perform species-specific behaviors. Examples include, but are not limited to, cage-free housing with perches and nest boxes for laying hens and group housing for gestating sows. When painful procedures need to be performed, we encourage pain mitigation, such as the use of anesthetics or analgesics. Kraft Heinz expects its suppliers to implement practices and pursue continuous improvement consistent with the Five Freedoms and good animal welfare.
Public interest in farming and animal care is increasing, and many consumers desire farming practices that match their values and expectations. Good animal welfare, environmental sustainability, and healthy people form an interconnected system, and well-managed farms reduce waste and provide a safe and nutritious food supply. Knowing this, we integrate science and societal ethics in our animal welfare decisions. Our Global Animal Welfare Policy and Supplier Implementation Guide are available on our Supplier Hub.
Our Supply Partners
Our suppliers are our partners in humane animal care and its continuous improvement. We expect suppliers to maintain strict standards of animal care and raise animals in accordance with applicable laws and ordinances in their locale. We require our suppliers to have a zero-tolerance policy for animal abuse and neglect, and to train all individuals working with or around live animals accordingly. In addition to requirements set in our Global Animal Welfare Policy, animal welfare expectations are delineated in the Kraft Heinz Ingredient Supplier Quality Expectations Manual and product specifications. When evidence of non-compliance is found, Kraft Heinz may suspend the supplier until corrective actions have been implemented. Suppliers who do not align with the requirements or do not make continuous and positive improvements to meet them risk losing Kraft Heinz as a customer.
Looking Ahead
As we look to the future, we are continuing to evaluate our animal welfare program in the context of our other sustainability ambitions and global supply challenges. We are engaging a leading animal welfare organization to help shape updates to our Global Animal Welfare Policy and re-define our animal welfare program focus areas.
* Kraft Heinz defines “cage-free or better” eggs as sourced from laying hens that come from cage-free, free-range, pasture-raised, or similar natural or open housing settings.
Animal Health & Management
Laying Hens
The ability to engage in normal behaviors such as walking, nesting, and dust-bathing is important to laying hen welfare. Therefore, by 2025 we are globally committed to purchasing only cage-free eggs or better. Kraft Heinz defines “cage-free or better” eggs as sourced from laying hens that come from cage-free, free-range, pasture-raised, or similar natural or open housing settings. Hens in cage-free and free-range and pasture raised housing are provided with litter, perches, and nest boxes. In Europe, in 2023, 100 percent of the eggs and egg products* we purchased from global sources were free-range. Globally, 64 percent of the eggs and egg products* we purchased were cage-free or better. We continue to face challenges sourcing cage-free or better eggs in certain of these regions due to supply availability and high transition costs that could lead to downstream price increases for consumers. Our reporting includes both internal and external manufacturing plants that make egg-containing products for us.
Pigs
In accordance with our three elements of animal welfare, we believe that pregnant sows should be safely housed in social groups with enough space to perform normal behaviors. While we do not own farms, we have a commitment to the care of animals, and therefore work closely with our suppliers to achieve our animal welfare goals. Supply of pigs housed in social groups remain constrained, and thus supply is very limited. With Prop 12 in California and Question 3 in Massachusetts, we have compliant products for customers in those markets. In 2023, 21 percent of our global and 98 percent of our European pork supply came from sows housed in group pen gestation.
Broiler Chickens
We have committed to improving broiler welfare in the United States by 2024. We believe that broilers should be kept in an environment that is conducive to good health and protects them from unnecessary pain. We continue to incorporate leading science into our assessment of broiler welfare while also engaging with the industry at large to support progress as guidelines for enhanced broiler welfare are redefined in light of emerging science. We incorporate a combination of outcome-based and practice-based metrics that are shown to demonstrably increase animal welfare while remaining cognizant of our greenhouse gas footprint and other sustainability factors. We continue to engage with our U.S. suppliers to meet enhanced broiler chicken welfare standards.
In 2023, we improved the overall supplier responses rate to our Animal Welfare Risk Assessment. For broiler-chicken related questions, the response rate increased from 56 percent in 2022 to 90 percent in 2023. This improved data coverage provided an enhanced view of the welfare of broiler chickens sourced by Kraft Heinz this year. Based on our suppliers’ self-assessment reporting and weighted to our overall portfolio volume of broiler chickens, in 2023, 91 percent of our supply had clean, friable litter, 91 percent of our supply had access to adequate light and 30 percent of our supply were provided enrichments such as daily access to roughage, scattered grains and pecking blocks. We will continue to measure and report these enrichment metrics to monitor our suppliers’ progress in broiler welfare.
European Chicken Commitment
In late 2019, Kraft Heinz expanded its animal welfare commitments to improving chicken welfare by 2026 as part of the European Chicken Commitment. Kraft Heinz continues to assess its European supply chain accordingly. This commitment faces substantial challenges related to supply and we are re-evaluating whether or not we will be able to require the fresh, frozen, and processed chicken in our European supply chain to meet this standard by 2026. We are continuing to engage with our suppliers and will share an update in future reporting.
Dairy Cattle
We require our U.S. suppliers to follow the National Milk Producers Federation’s Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Animal Care guidelines. This program establishes on-farm animal management practices and includes second-party evaluations and third-party verification. 98.7 percent of our dairy supply comes from U.S. farms. Our Canadian suppliers follow the National Farm Animal Care Council’s Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle. To verify guidelines are followed, U.S. and Canadian programs are required to have third party audits.
Humane Endings
We believe animals should be provided a respectful and humane death. Compromised animals must be euthanized in a timely manner that aligns with the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) or World Organization for Animal Health’s (WOAH) guidelines. Similarly, slaughter should also align with these guidelines. Efficient stunning prior to slaughter is important for animal welfare.
Antimicrobials
Disease prevention strategies such as husbandry, hygiene, and vaccinations must be the primary defenses against animal disease. However, even with excellent care, farm animals sometimes become ill. When this occurs, antimicrobial treatment (including antibiotics) can be an important component of humane animal care. Therapeutic antimicrobials should only be used after careful review by a veterinarian and treatment limited to ill and at-risk animals, treating the fewest animals possible. Alongside good farm management, responsible antimicrobial use can help protect food quality and enhance safety. In the U.S., where the majority of Kraft Heinz meat ingredients are purchased, we require our suppliers to meet or exceed the AVMA or WOAH guidelines for the judicious use of antimicrobial agents. Our meat and dairy products meet or exceed government regulations related to the use and administration of antimicrobials, including compliance with bans on antibiotics for growth promotion.
Hormones
While studies conclude hormone supplements in cattle are safe for animals and for humans, we support ongoing research efforts to further demonstrate the safety and usefulness of supplemental hormones. For example, recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) is a hormone that can increase milk production in dairy cattle. Globally its usage varies widely in accordance with government regulations. In the United States, for example, hormones (including rbST) are not allowed to be used for growth promotion in pigs or poultry. In some countries, growth hormones are approved for use in beef and dairy cattle. We do not restrict their use in those instances. However, we support wider industry initiatives to eliminate rbST from the supply.
Testing of Food Ingredients
Kraft Heinz does not support or condone the use of animals for research that is not essential to food safety, and we do not have any testing facilities. When legally required by governmental agencies, ingredient safety testing is completed by accredited third-party facilities following appropriate animal welfare guidelines. We do not support unnecessary testing and are advocates for replacing animal testing with other validated research methods.
* Kraft Heinz does not directly purchase any shell eggs.
Animal Welfare Risk Assessments
Annually, all Kraft Heinz suppliers of animal and animal-derived products are requested to complete an animal welfare risk self-assessment. The assessment was developed by a cross-functional internal panel that included animal welfare, procurement, and quality team members and was reviewed by an external team of animal welfare scientists. The assessments review suppliers’ strengths and weaknesses in animal welfare policies, personnel training, transportation, stunning methods, painful procedures, and auditing. Kraft Heinz’s animal welfare team works with lower performing suppliers, which make up a small percentage of our total supply chain, to create action plans to develop policies and procedures that improve animal welfare. Low performing suppliers unwilling or unable to improve animal welfare may jeopardize their status as Kraft Heinz suppliers. Results of our 2023 assessment are listed below and more details can be found in the ESG Metrics.
2023 Animal Welfare Global Risk Assessment Key Findings*
* Figures displayed in the table above are based on supplier self-reporting though Kraft Heinz Animal Welfare Risk Assessment and are weighted by volume of our supply in the reporting year.
** Transport time refers to the time traveled between farm and processing plant.
