First it was 'natural', then 'organic'. Is 'humanely raised' next?
The American Humane Association believes a big trend at this year's Food Marketing Institute (FMI) show will be how livestock are treated before they wind up on grocer's shelves. The association said it's been a slow build over the past few years, but has been catching on in the past few months.
Among the bigger developments:
Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork producer, announced plans in January to phase-out the use of gestation stalls;
Burger King in early April announced plans to buy more from slaughterhouses using more humane treatment;
Celebrated chef Wolfgang Puck in March vowed to use only meat at his restaurants that come from animals that have been treated humanely. (This includes no longer serving foie gras, the fatty liver produced by overfeeding ducks and geese.)
At the retail level, Whole Foods recently rolled out a line of meat carrying the "animal compassionate" label and other retailers are making similar animal-welfare claims on meat and egg packaging, including "free farmed," "certified humane, "cage free" and "free range."
Marie Belew Wheatley, president and CEO at the American Humane Association, said greater media attention and a raised social awareness that has helped other food trends, such as organic, is stirring a movement toward humanely-raised meat.
"I think it goes hand and hand with people having an interest in environmental protection, how the world is in general, and how animals are treated in specific," Ms. Wheatley told RetailWire.com. "While a lot of people's response to those considerations are to be vegetarian, there are many, many more people who are not vegetarian but care about how animals raised for food are treated. More and more are paying attention and speaking with their pocketbooks."
Indeed, the humanely treated meat trend shares many aspects of the health and wellness trend.
Similar to organic/natural labels, consumers will likely become confused over definitions surrounding humanely treated meat. Rivaling animal rights organizations such as Humane Farm Animal Care and the Animal Welfare Institute - as well as stores such as Whole Foods - all have different certification standards for what constitutes a humanely treated animal.
On the positive side - again similar to natural/organic - humanely raised meat can provide a point of differentiation and potentially a higher margin for producers and retailers.
"Consumers are willing to pay more for the assurance that the animals are treated humanely," said Ms. Wheatley.
Nonetheless, it's still not certain if only a small niche of animal lovers will pay up, especially since many retail programs are in their infancy. Prices can be twice as high as products not carrying labels.
But Ms. Wheatley believes that just as consumers have demonstrated a willingness to pay more for healthier options, they will also for more ethically-responsible ones as well.
"I think we're witnessing a growing trend and there's no letting up," said Ms. Wheatley. "Consumers look for healthy, look for organic, and look for humanely raised more, more and more."
Discussion Questions: What do you think of the potential for 'humanely raised' meat? Should food retailers aggressively be pursuing this trend? If not yet, what do you think it lacks in terms of being a worthwhile opportunity?