Three Meal Kit Companies Adopt the Better Chicken Commitment

MAJOR PROGRESS FOR CHICKENS: After dialogue with Animal Equality, three top meal kit companies have made a commitment to higher chicken welfare in their chicken supply chains.

• Hungryroot signed up for the Better Chicken Commitment, for its own brand products, plus a significant amount of non-branded products.
• Martha & Marley Spoon published their commitment to the Better Chicken Commitment – a policy that will be a global commitment as its EU and Australian arms will publish soon as well.
• Factor 75 also committed to the Better Chicken Commitment.

SIMPLE ACTIONS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE: These three policies will impact over 5 million animals per year! And while each of these companies agreed to the policy on their own accord, they came to the negotiating table in the first place because of Animal Equality’s volunteer actions on their social media, customer service lines, and more, helping them understand how important animal welfare is to consumers.

MEAL KITS FALLING BEHIND: In late September, Animal Equality launched a campaign targeting three other meal kit service companies for their lack of a public commitment to higher animal welfare in their chicken supply chains. The companies, which include Gobble, Yumble, and Home Chef, have all either refused to disclose any chicken welfare policy they adhere to or whose standards do not match up with what their customers would expect.

With typical chicken farming:

• chickens are bred to grow at an alarmingly unnatural rate, causing leg deformities, organ failure, and heart attacks in these baby birds;
• each flock, which consists of tens of thousands of birds, are kept in dim, windowless sheds and are unable to perform natural behaviors;
• chickens are forced to live in their own waste, with ammonia levels so concentrated that many suffer from painful chemical burns;
• birds at the slaughterhouse are violently shackled upside down and then have their throats slit, often while they’re still conscious.

MEAL KIT CRUELTY AWARDS: The campaign’s website, MealKitCruelty.com, showcases bloody logos and allows the public to vote for the worst meal kit company for animals. Petitions are included for each meal kit service, calling on company executives to take animal welfare seriously by making a public commitment to higher animal protection standards that would reduce the suffering of potentially millions of chickens killed for their menu items.

PROGRESS IS HAPPENING: Over the last few years, more than 200 brands have responded to consumer concerns and made commitments to improve chicken welfare by adopting a set of standards deemed the Better Chicken Commitment. Several meal kit companies, including Blue Apron, HelloFresh, and Sun Basket, have signed on to the policy, and top restaurant chains such as Burger King, Subway, and Popeyes have done so as well. It’s time that Gobble, Yumble, and Home Chef did the same—for their customers and the animals trapped inside their supply chains.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: To learn more about the current campaign and take action, visit MealKitCruelty.com. You can also sign up to become an Animal Protector, and you will be sent easy online actions you can take for this campaign and more. These quick actions can make all the difference, just as they did with Hungryroot, Martha & Marley Spoon, and Factor 75.