The practice of keeping track of cattle by branding them is under threat as retailers and restaurants encourage their suppliers to adopt more humane methods of animal husbandry.
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According to a report in the Omaha World-Herald, consumers are putting pressure on restaurant groups and retailers to prove their meat comes from animals reared in humane conditions, and the latter groups are in turn using their buying power to implement changes in how livestock are reared.
The latest large restaurant group to flex its buying muscle is Applebee’s International, which requires suppliers to observe defined standards that include the suggestion that animals not be branded. The group, which has 14 restaurants in Nebraska and 22 in Iowa, is the most recent to adopt an animal welfare policy, following in the footprints of McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendys. The Applebee’s standards include minimum size of pens and the use of humane, efficient stunning methods prior to slaughter. Applebee’s informed its suppliers that they should consider “not accepting any product from suppliers that practice branding of animals”.
While the standards are not yet enforceable, as Applebee’s is awaiting the release of industry-wide standards, suppliers are inevitably under pressure to adhere to them. Eighteen farm groups have registered formal complaints with Applebee’s. Some are angry that they were not consulted while the standards were being drawn up, and by the perceived implication that they, as farmers or meatpackers, do not have the animals’ best interests at heart.
The changes are being driven by restaurants and retailers, who say they are responding to consumer demand. The Food Marketing Institute, whose members operate more than 26,000 groceries, and the National Council of Chain Restaurants, whose members operate 50,000 restaurants, have formed a task force to develop animal-welfare standards, said the Omaha World-Herald. Members of the two organisations together account for approximately half the US$843bn in annual US food retail sales.
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By GlobalData
