At Albertsons Companies, we strive to maintain high animal welfare standards across all areas of our business. Animal welfare programs and policies are managed by senior members of our sourcing team, who leverage the advice and counsel of experts from academia and industry. These experts guide us in setting sound, science-based animal welfare policies and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement. We value their support and counsel on the humane treatment of animals.

We believe that the farm animals in our supply chain deserve to be treated humanely during every chapter of their lives. We are committed to the “five freedoms” as stated by the Farm Animal Welfare Council:

  1. Freedom from Hunger and Thirst
  2. Freedom from Discomfort
  3. Freedom from Pain, Injury or Disease
  4. Freedom to Express Normal Behavior
  5. Freedom from Fear and Distress

Not only do we support the “five freedoms,” but we continue to work with our suppliers to ensure that they are adopted and implemented.

Pork

We encourage our vendors to limit the use of gestation crates for breeding sows in favor of group-housing systems in order to increase the amount of group-housed fresh pork we can purchase and offer to our customers. Looking ahead, we are committed to updating our goal of increasing our sourcing of group-housed fresh pork, including setting measurable sourcing targets, which we plan to publish in early 2025 and report on annually thereafter.

Chicken

Over the last two years, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has continued to pose significant challenges to the national poultry supply chain. Albertsons Companies continues to lean on animal-science experts for policy guidance and on suppliers to make the best decisions for the animals they are raising and handling while ensuring supply for our customers.

In 2023, more than 60% of liquid and shell eggs available in our stores were sourced from cage-free environments. In addition, Albertsons Companies' Organics® and Open Nature® brands exclusively offer cage-free shell and liquid eggs, and all Own Brands' hardboiled eggs are from cage-free farms.

Dairy

We require all of our dairy suppliers to be certified to the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) animal care standards or a more stringent equivalent. This means our dairy suppliers are committed to quality farm management practices as well as safe, wholesome dairy products. We joined the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and the Dairy Sustainability Alliance to advance the efforts of the dairy community by sharing best practices and improving accountability within the industry.

Audits

We conduct annual humane handling audits through our own internal Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) Certified auditor on our Own Brand vendors in addition to requiring our fresh beef and pork suppliers to have 3rd party validation on-file of meeting the Meat Institute Standards for Humane Handling guidelines. We are a member of the Meat Institute as well as the Pork Retail Advisory Committee, which meets at least once a year to review relevant industry issues, including animal well-being.

Antibiotics

We expect our suppliers to manage the use of antibiotics in accordance with FDA guidance documents 209, 213 and 152, and the American Veterinary Medical Association Judicious Use Guidelines. Suppliers that do not adhere to local, state, and federal laws or the guidance listed above when using antibiotics, feed additives and/or supplements are excluded from our program.

Customers interested in products that are free from antibiotics and added growth hormones can learn more about our O Organics and Open Nature brands here.