Noble Foods

Last updated
Noble Foods Ltd
Industry Poultry
Headquarters
Lincolnshire
Website noblefoods.co.uk

Noble Foods is a British poultry company. As of 2016, it was the UK's largest egg producer. [1]

The company was founded in 2006 through the merger of Deans Foods and Stonegate. The company subsequently had to divest itself of its Stonegate business after the Competition Commission found that it violated UK antitrust laws. [2]

In 2017 and 2018 The Humane League petitioned Noble Foods over its farming practices, which used caged hens for its Big & Fresh brand, [3] [4] and Animal Equality released footage of treatment of hens in Noble Foods' supply chain. [5] Soon after, in March 2018, Noble Foods announced a pledge to go completely cage-free by 2025. [5] Since 2019, they have achieved top tier ranking in the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beak trimming</span> Trimming of a birds beak, usually performed on domesticated birds

Beak trimming, or beak conditioning, is the partial removal of the beak of poultry, especially layer hens and turkeys, although it is also be performed on some quail and ducks. When multiple birds are confined in small spaces due to farming practices, they are more likely to hurt each other through pecking. Beak trimming aims to avoid damage done by pecking, although the practice is criticized by animal welfare organizations and banned in several European countries. Beak trimming is most common in egg-laying strains of chickens. In some countries, such as the United States, turkeys routinely have their beaks trimmed. In the UK, only 10% of turkeys are beak trimmed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Costco</span> American multinational membership-only warehouse club chain

Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world and is the world's largest retailer of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine as of 2016. Costco is ranked #11 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. Costco uses a club warehouse wholesale retailer channel of distribution while also selling their private label brand directly to consumers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whole Foods Market</span> American natural and organic foods supermarket chain and subsidiary of Amazon

Whole Foods Market, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A USDA Certified Organic grocer in the United States, the chain is popularly known for its organic selections. As of March 4, 2019, Whole Foods has more than 500 stores in North America and seven in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panera Bread</span> American restaurant chain specializing in soups, salads and sandwiches

Panera Bread is an American chain of bakery-café fast casual restaurants with over 2,000 locations, all of which are in the United States and Canada. Its headquarters are in Sunset Hills, Missouri. The chain operates as Saint Louis Bread Company in the Greater St. Louis area, where it has over 100 locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free-range eggs</span> Type of egg produced from outdoor bird

Free-range eggs also known as cage-free eggs are eggs produced from birds that may be permitted outdoors. The term "free-range" may be used differently depending on the country and the relevant laws, and is not regulated in many areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free range</span> Method of farming where animals can roam freely outdoors

Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day. On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, thereby technically making this an enclosure, however, free range systems usually offer the opportunity for the extensive locomotion and sunlight that is otherwise prevented by indoor housing systems. Free range may apply to meat, eggs or dairy farming.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farm Sanctuary</span> Non-profit organization in the USA

Farm Sanctuary is an American animal protection organization, founded in 1986 as an advocate for farmed animals. It was America's first shelter for farmed animals. It promotes laws and policies that support animal welfare, animal protection, and veganism through rescue, education, and advocacy. Farm Sanctuary houses over 800 cows, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigs, sheep, and goats at a 300+ acre animal sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York and more than 100 animals at its location in Acton, California, near Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battery cage</span> Agricultural technology

Battery cages are a housing system used for various animal production methods, but primarily for egg-laying hens. The name arises from the arrangement of rows and columns of identical cages connected, in a unit, as in an artillery battery. Although the term is usually applied to poultry farming, similar cage systems are used for other animals. Battery cages have generated controversy between advocates for animal welfare and industrial producers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organic egg production</span>

Organic egg production is the production of eggs through organic means. In this process, the poultry are fed organic feed. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, organic means that the laying hens must have access to the outdoors and cannot be raised in cages. Only natural molting can occur within the flock; forced molting is not allowed. Organic certification also requires maintenance of basic animal welfare standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poultry farming</span> Part of animal husbandry

Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion chickens are killed for consumption annually. Chickens raised for eggs are known as layers, while chickens raised for meat are called broilers.

Mercy For Animals (MFA) is an international nonprofit animal protection organization founded in 1999 by Milo Runkle. MFA's mission is to "prevent cruelty to farmed animals and promote compassionate food choices and policies."

Burnbrae Farms is a Canadian producer and processor of eggs, supplying grocery store chains, the food service industry, large bakeries and industrial customers. The company has farms in Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba, grading stations across the country and processing operations in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Furnished cage</span>

A furnished cage, sometimes called enriched cage, colony cage or modified cage, is a type of cage used in poultry farming for egg laying hens. Furnished cages have been designed to overcome some of the welfare concerns of battery cages whilst retaining their economic and husbandry advantages, and also provide some of the welfare advantages over non-cage systems. Many design features of furnished cages have been incorporated because research in animal welfare science has shown them to be of benefit to the hens.

Philip John Lymbery is the Global CEO of farm animal welfare charity, Compassion in World Farming International, Visiting Professor at the University of Winchester’s Centre for Animal Welfare, President of Eurogroup for Animals, Brussels, founding Board member of the World Federation for Animals and a Leadership Fellow at St George's House, Windsor Castle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Direct Action Everywhere</span> Animal rights organization

Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) is an international grassroots network of animal rights activists founded in 2013 in the San Francisco Bay Area. DxE uses disruptive protests and non-violent direct action tactics, such as open rescue of animals from factory farms. Their intent is to build a movement that can eventually shift culture and change social and political institutions. DxE activists work to "put an end to the commodity status of animals."

The Humane League (THL) is an international nonprofit organization that works to end the abuse of animals raised for food through corporate, media and community outreach. It operates in the United States, Mexico, the UK and Japan. THL promotes plant-based diets, conducts research on the effectiveness of different interventions, and works to obtain animal welfare commitments from companies. It was founded in 2005 in Philadelphia by Nick Cooney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Massachusetts Question 3</span>

An Act to Prevent Cruelty to Farm Animals, more commonly known as Question 3, was the third initiative on the 2016 Massachusetts ballot. The measure requires Massachusetts farmers to give chickens, pigs, and calves enough room to turn around, stand up, lie down, and fully extend their limbs. It also prohibits the sale of eggs or meat from animals raised in conditions that did not meet these standards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayne Hsiung</span> American activist

Wayne Hsiung is an American activist and attorney. Hsiung is a co-founder of The Simple Heart Initiative and previously led the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), which he also co-founded. During his time as a lawyer, he worked with the law firms DLA Piper and Steptoe & Johnson, was a Searle Fellow and visiting assistant professor at the Northwestern University School of Law, and a National Science Foundation-funded graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Hsiung ran for mayor of Berkeley, California, in 2020, largely focused on the issue of animal rights, and earned 24% of the vote, defeated by incumbent Jesse Arreguin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 California Proposition 12</span> Ballot measure on space requirements for farm animals

Proposition 12 was a California ballot proposition in that state's general election on November 6, 2018. The measure was self-titled the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act. The measure passed, by a vote of about 63% Yes to 37% No.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Paws</span> Global animal welfare organisation based in Vienna, Austria

Four Paws is a global animal welfare organisation based in Vienna, Austria. It focuses on improving the living conditions of animals under direct human influence, by revealing suffering, rescuing animals in need, and protecting them.

References

  1. "Gangmasters agree to pay more than £1m to settle modern slavery claim". The Guardian . 20 December 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  2. "Noble Foods considering options including flotation or partial sale". Belfast Telegraph . 22 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  3. "Free-range firm Noble Foods keeps 4.3m caged hens". The Times . 10 October 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  4. "Animal Rights Group Protest". PR Week . 15 March 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  5. 1 2 Su-San Sit (29 March 2018). "Noble Foods pledges to go cage-free by 2025" . Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  6. "Noble Foods, Waitrose and Cranswick top welfare rankings". The Grocer. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2020.