In 2007, Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s and Wolfgang Puck helped pave the way for better treatment of farm animals by starting to incorporate cage-free eggs into their products. This led Nation’s Restaurant News to write about growing consumer concerns over food production, noting that many restaurant companies “are embracing purchasing policies with animal welfare in mind.”
Four years later that trend has become even more prominent. Now Unilever — one of the world’s largest food companies and maker of iconic brands like Hellmann’s Mayonnaise — has stated that it will use only cage-free eggs in its products. Walmart and Costco have announced that their private-brand eggs are 100-percent cage free. Subway recently announced that it has begun the process of switching to 100-percent cage-free eggs. And other restaurant chains also have begun using cage-free eggs, including Wendy’s, Denny’s, Golden Corral, Cracker Barrel, Whataburger, Sonic and Ruby Tuesday.
The Humane Society of the United States, which aims to foster animal-friendly policies, assisted most of the companies as they made these strides. The HSUS provides these services — always free of charge — because we believe in the spirit of cooperation and in finding practical solutions that work for consumers, retailers and producers.
Of working with HSUS, a senior vice president at Sara Lee wrote: “The Humane Society of the United States … understands the importance of finding ways of fitting humane initiatives into already existing business models. We’re thrilled with our relationship with the organization.”
Joe Essa, president of Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, said: “Working with HSUS was a great experience. Our company found them to be extremely knowledgeable, open-minded and practical. … I would recommend HSUS to any of my colleagues in the foodservice and hospitality industries.”
A director at Subway said: “We have made a commitment to be more environmentally and socially responsible. We are working with our partners at The Humane Society of the United States … to take the steps needed to do this.”
HSUS’ successful food industry partnerships reflect the fact that we’re a big-tent organization with one of the strongest brand images of any nonprofit organization. As one of the nation’s top-10 most fiscally responsible charities — according to Worth magazine — HSUS understands how critical economic stability is. And the 11 million people who support HSUS represent a broad cross-section of Americans, each with different values, backgrounds, lifestyles and diets. This diversity of thought also exists among our staff, which includes both vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. One thing that we share is the belief that all animals, including those raised for food, deserve some semblance of protection from abuse.
There are some folks out there, like lobbyist Rick Berman, who have made a lucrative living by employing scare tactics founded on misinformation. But most people and most companies know better now. They know that simply giving farm animals enough room to spread their limbs is an attainable and reasonable goal. They know that running a business doesn’t require callousness. And they know that to thrive in the 21st century it’s important to find ways to incorporate customers’ concerns into their business models.
That’s where HSUS can help. And that is indeed where we have helped many of the world’s largest food companies. Anybody interested in learning more about our work or finding out how we can help their business begin to capitalize on this issue — or even anyone with questions about the organization — should feel free to contact us any time.
Matthew Prescott is the director of corporate outreach for The Humane Society of the United States.
