Our Mission is to deliver the ingredients for a better life, and we strive to ensure that families have convenient access to a wide variety of fresh, high-quality and affordable nutrition options. Furthermore, as part of our commitment to corporate social responsibility, SpartanNash believes that the humane treatment of animals should play an important role in the production and sale of food and other essential consumer goods. These responsibility practices have earned SpartanNash the trust of consumers for more than 100 years.
Although SpartanNash does not own or operate any farms or animal processing facilities, we believe animals should and can be raised, handled, transported and processed in ways that ensure they are clean, safe and free from cruelty, abuse or neglect. SpartanNash also recognizes that best practices around animal welfare are part of an ongoing evolution based on various factors, including new information, technologies and agricultural advancements. We believe that animal welfare practices should be based on both science and ethics.
Our Animal Welfare Policy outlines our expectations for our suppliers to incorporate the Five Freedoms of animal welfare in their supply chain. Additionally, below is our approach to the following animal welfare topics:
- Cage-Free Eggs: SpartanNash currently offers a variety of cage-free, certified organic, free-range and pasture-raised eggs in our corporate stores and to our independent retail customers through our Full Circle™ brand, Vital Farms®, as well as some of Eggland’s Best® eggs.
The majority of our retail operations are in Michigan, where the current law requires all eggs produced and sold to be cage-free by 2025. We will comply with the laws and regulations of states where we do business. We remain committed to delivering affordable egg options for our consumers that fit their budget while continuing to increase the percentage of cage-free eggs we sell. For more details about the evolution of our commitments related to cage-free eggs, please refer to the cage-free eggs section of our 2022 ESG report. - Eternal Oceans Seafood Sourcing: We commit to partnering with suppliers utilizing fisheries that are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) for wild-caught species or the Global Aquaculture Alliance Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) and Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) for farm-raised species. We support our suppliers’ relationships with seafood industry leaders, such as the Sustainable Fisheries, which allow for continuous improvement in sourcing for all seafood we sell.
- Milk with No Artificial Growth Hormones: Since 2008, our private label milk, currently marketed as Our Family® milk, has been entirely sourced from cows that are not treated with artificial growth hormones (rBST). Furthermore, none of the conventional milk sold in our corporate retail stores is sourced from cows treated with artificial growth hormones.
- Genetically Modified Seafood: We do not sell genetically modified seafood.
- Polled genetics: We accept the use of polled genetics breeding programs for dairy cows which, if successful, may eliminate the need for dehorning.
- Plant-Based Protein Options: We strive to provide store guests with numerous protein options to suit their individual needs, including many plant-based proteins, where available.