Humane Ground Beef
Mooving toward happier burgers
As of September 1, 2012, all ground beef served in Bon Appétit cafés should be sourced from suppliers that have met the strict standards of one of four independent animal-welfare organizations. (Beef purchases from small, local producers who are registered through our Farm to Fork program will continue to be permitted.)
The companywide “moove” is a step toward Bon Appétit’s commitment to the most sweeping changes in our meat supply of any food service company, by the aggressive date of 2015. As part of a groundbreaking announcement from February, we vowed to purchase at least 25% of our beef, pork, and poultry from ranches and farms whose practices have been certified by Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC)’s Certified Humane program, Animal Welfare Approved, Food Alliance, or Global Animal Partnership. These four groups are independent, not industry led, and have high animal-husbandry standards.
Read about our switch in the Washington Post >
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Temporary Change in Certified Humane Ground Beef Supply Availability
In July 2024, Bon Appétit Management Company’s purchasing team learned that our primary supplier of Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC)-certified beef — which is used to make the ground beef carrying the Certified Humane™ label that our teams purchase nationwide — has chosen to permanently stop carrying the certification. We value third-party verification, which is why we are actively seeking new suppliers that have been certified by one of our accepted certifying programs — HFAC, Animal Welfare Approved, Food Alliance, or Global Animal Partnership.
As we seek new suppliers that carry an acceptable certification, we will continue to source ground beef from our current supplier to ensure its consistent availability for our guests and clients. While our current ground beef will no longer carry the HFAC certification, it is our understanding that the animal welfare standards for the product will not change in the near future. While estimating the precise date when a new supply will be available nationwide is impossible, we expect this change to be temporary and hope to have a new supply available in most locations by early 2025.