Kraft Heinz, the third-largest food and beverage company in North America, has announced an expansion of their current animal welfare commitments to include better treatment of chickens raised for meat.

They have committed to adopt GAP welfare standards for all the chickens in their US supply chain by 2024.

Their announcement will positively impact a huge number of chickens across the US, who will benefit from more space, natural light, enrichments to encourage natural behaviours, and – importantly - better genetics that do not inherently cause suffering.

The vast majority of chickens are bred to grow so large, so quickly, they struggle to walk and can develop heart conditions and suffer weakened immune systems. Chickens are healthier, happier and more active when they are bred to grow more slowly and have the space and stimulation they need to perform natural behaviours such as pecking and perching.

Kraft Heinz follows other major US companies such as Subway, Burger King, Panera, Chipotle, Qdoba, Jack in the Box, and many more, in publicly committing to improve the lives of chickens.

Compassion applauds Kraft Heinz for making animal welfare a top priority – it is a major step in the right direction and one that will turn the tide towards better chicken welfare in the future.

Kraft Heinz’s full commitment can be found here.

Kraft Heinz commits to better chicken