Panera details animal welfare plans
Panera's figured out a pretty savvy way to entice Millennials: clean up its act.
Just a six months after Panera announced plans to eliminate all artificial additives in its food by the end of 2016, it will announce plans today to further clean up its animal welfare program.
Beginning in January, 2015, pregnant sows at Panera suppliers no longer will be confined to gestation crates before being processed for Panera. Also, all pork will be 100% raised without antibiotics. Panera was about 90% towards achieving both of those goals this year.
This is no small accomplishment. Pork accounts for about 30% of Panera's transactions. Panera also reported that in 2014:
• Some 80% -- or two million pounds -- of its beef was grass-fed. (It's working on getting that number to 100%).
• About 18% of its 70 million eggs came from hens in cage -free environments. (It's working on greatly bolstering that number.)
Even the Humane Society of the United States has taken notice -- although it's still prodding Panera to do better with its hens.
"In some areas, like pig gestation crates, Panera is ahead of -- or on par with -- industry competition," says Matt Prescott, food policy director of the HSUS. But, he says, Panera still needs to catch up with those that already have adapted more humane policies against stuffing egg-laying hens into cages.
Panera says that it plans to do that. "This isn't simply about Panera the brand. It's about the food consumer," says Blaine Hurst, chief transformation officer at Panera. "It's important to stand up and be counted."
Animal welfare is a Millennial consumer magnet. Sensitivity to animal welfare issues, in fact, is one the of the key issues -- along with local sourcing and natural preparation -- to "define this multifaceted group," says the trade publication QSR Magazine. About two in three consumers view terms such as "grass-fed" and "cage-free" as clear signals that the food is healthier, according to a recent survey from the research firm Technomic.
Millennials, in particular, are looking for an emotional connection to brands, says Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic. "This feeds the consumers soul," he says.
Over the past year, several major food makers have announced aggressive actions on animal welfare. Nestle, one of the world's largest food companies, said it planned to eliminate egg-laying hen cages and gestation crates from its global supply system. Tysons Foods, Cargill, Hatfield and Smithfield Foods all announced plans to move away from gestation crates. Wendy's announced it would require quarterly reporting from all pork suppliers on progress towards eliminating gestation crates.
Panera executives say that instead of just boasting about what the company plans to do, it's also being transparent about what it's already done. This year marked Panera's 10th anniversary of serving chickens raised without any antibiotics -- an achievement that was arguably a decade ahead of most fast-food chains.
"It goes back to the fundamentals," says Dan Kish, senior vice president of food at Panera. "Great food comes from great ingredients. Simple is always better."
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