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SUPERVALU Animal Welfare
SUPERVALU’s Commitment to Animal Welfare
Animal welfare is an important issue to SUPERVALU® retail banners, our associates and our customers to ensure the humane processing of animals within the supply chain of protein vendors. While we do not directly engage in raising or processing animals at our stores, we are a purchaser of these products and believe it is our obligation to ensure that each of our suppliers meets or exceeds government regulations by meeting SUPERVALU retail banners’ standards pertaining to the humane treatment of animals.
SUPERVALU will continue to monitor and ensure compliance of the vendor community with required humane processing of animals consistent with government regulations, will support programs that are adopted as industry standards and will stay attuned to new technologies developed to advance these processes.
SUPERVALU’s Practice
SUPERVALU believes that education, associate awareness, ongoing commitment from our vendor suppliers and ongoing verification practices are key elements to maintaining sound animal welfare practices at SUPERVALU retail banners.
SUPERVALU’s Animal Welfare Requirements
Animal welfare and food safety inspection audits are integral to our customer and vendor relationships. We will use vendor-supplied internal audits, accredited third-party audits and SUPERVALU audits through the combined efforts of SUPERVALU’s food safety group and the merchandising/sourcing group for compliance and improvement.
SUPERVALU Consumer Interest Council
SUPERVALU has established a formal, cross-functional Consumer Interest Council (comprised of company, vendor and independent team members) to continue to provide guidance and counsel to SUPERVALU on a quarterly basis on matters related to animal welfare, food safety, consumer advocacy and corporate citizenship.
The council consults with Temple Grandin, Ph.D., who serves as associate professor of livestock handling and behavior at Colorado State University. Dr. Grandin obtained her B.A. at Franklin Pierce College and her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University. She received her Ph.D. in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. She teaches courses on livestock behavior and facility design at Colorado State University and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling and animal welfare.
SUPERVALU’s Consumer Interest Council also provides recommendations to senior SUPERVALU management regarding sound animal welfare practices when awarding business.
SUPERVALU Vendor Partnerships and Regulations
SUPERVALU will continue to work with its vendor partners (many of whom have evaluated and continue to evaluate emerging methods of humane animal welfare handling and treatment) to ensure the newest slaughter procedures are thoroughly tested and scientifically evaluated, while also ensuring compliance of the vendor community with regard to required humane processing of animals consistent with government regulations. SUPERVALU will continue to conduct business with suppliers that provide the safest, highest quality products to meet consumer needs.
Current Product Sourcing
SUPERVALU’s goal is to provide our customers with the widest variety and freshest selection of quality products possible.
Like many retailers, SUPERVALU requires that vendor processing programs comply with all existing local, state and federal regulations. It is SUPERVALU’s belief that, when applicable, governmental bodies are best situated to determine required handling procedures based on appropriate science, technology and application.
SUPERVALU will continue to monitor and ensure compliance of the vendor community with required humane processing of animals consistent with government regulations, will support programs that are adopted as industry standards and will stay attuned to new technologies developed to advance these processes.
SUPERVALU Statement Regarding Gestation Crates – November 2012
SUPERVALU is fully committed to animal welfare. While we do not directly engage in the raising or processing of animals, we work closely with our suppliers and continually monitor the latest advances in animal science and technology. In light of the growing concerns regarding the use of gestation crates for sow housing, we have initiated a company review of this practice. Specifically, we have engaged our pork suppliers to better understand their plans for transitioning away from the use of gestation crates. We recognize this change cannot occur overnight, and are asking our suppliers to present us with plans for potential alternatives to gestation crates within the next five years, by 2017. Ultimately, our goal is to work closely with suppliers to come up with a workable solution that will be the best for animals, farmers and consumers.