Foodservice vendor ISS Guckenheimer is now sourcing gestation crate-free pork for most of its dining locations.
This change, which took effect on May 1, aims to improve animal welfare in the company’s supply chain.
With the new policy, sows will reside in open pens with at least 24 square feet around them during gestation, a period of about 114 days, according to a press release. Traditionally, sows’ movement is restricted during this period.
“Improving animal welfare is extremely important to us and our clients and the individuals we serve,” Paul Fairhead, CEO of ISS Guckenheimer, said in the release. “Our commitment to sourcing gestation crate-free pork is part of our broader efforts to improve animal welfare and consciously contribute to a more humane, and socially and sustainably responsible food cycle.”
Compass Group made a similar commitment last November, vowing to cease the use of gestation crates in its supply chain by this summer. Sodexo pledged many years ago to serve only gestation crate-free pork by 2022, though it has since revised those aims; as of March 2023, 5.8% of Sodexo’s pork supply was crate-free.
Pork suppliers have warned that changes in how pigs are raised will lead to increasing costs for the protein. The U.S. Supreme Court last month upheld a 2018 California ballot initiative that restricts pork sales in the state to meat from pigs raised in gestation crates larger than the industry standard, a move that will likely impact pig farms across the country.