Campbell Soup Co. broiler chickens
The Campbell Soup Co. plans to improve the welfare of broiler chickens in its chicken meat supply chain.
 

CAMDEN, N.J. — The Campbell Soup Co. plans to improve the welfare of broiler chickens in its chicken meat supply chain.

Niki King, Campbell Soup
Niki King, director of responsible sourcing for Campbell Soup

“By 2024, we will aim to move our entire U.S. chicken meat supply to a higher standard of animal welfare,” said Niki King, director of responsible sourcing for Campbell Soup. “Campbell has made animal welfare a key part of our vision for an ethical and responsible supply chain, and we expect our suppliers to meet our requirements, while partnering with us to implement and execute more ambitious practices.”

The company will work with suppliers to improve the treatment of broiler chickens in the following ways:

  • Transitioning to strains of birds approved by Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (R.S.P.C.A.) or the Global Animal Partnership (G.A.P.) that are scientifically recognized as having higher welfare outcomes;
  • Providing more space for chickens by reducing stocking density to a maximum of 6 lbs per square foot;
  •  Offering improved environments, including litter, lighting and enrichment that meet G.A.P.’s new standards;
  • Processing chickens in a manner that avoids pre-stun handling and instead uses multi-step controlled atmospheric stunning;
  • Using third-party auditing to ensure compliance.


“We’ll thoughtfully address the impact of this commitment on the farmers from which we source our ingredients,” Ms. King said. “We will aspire to achieve these standards by 2024, but changes such as these are complicated and require time, investment and partnership to succeed, and must align with our commitment to ensuring access to good, affordable food for our consumers.”

Campbell Soup has already committed to sourcing 100% No Antibiotic Ever (N.A.E.) chicken for diced and canned chicken products by 2018 and to transitioning to exclusive use of cage-free eggs.