THE SAD TRUTH
Ahold Delhaize sells low-quality products from abused animals.
Ahold Delhaize’s stores, including Food Lion, Hannaford, and Giant Food, continue to allow egregiously cruel and unsanitary practices in their supply chains. Join us to demand change.
Representative of the type of facility from which Ahold Delhaize buys eggs
THE PROBLEM
AHOLD DELHAIZE PROFITS FROM ANIMAL CRUELTY
Battery Cages
In battery cages, hens are confined so tightly that they have hardly any space to move around or even spread their limbs. Egg-laying hens are forced to eat, sleep, defecate, and lay eggs in the same cage day after day for their entire lives.
For any animal, living like this is physical and mental torture. The image above represents the conditions like those in Ahold Delhaize’s supply chain.
Gestation Crates
Imagine spending your entire life confined to an airplane seat. Pigs kept in gestation crates in Ahold Delhaize’s supply chain endure this kind of treatment and worse.
Animal welfare scientists and veterinarians around the world have condemned this practice and consider it extreme animal cruelty.The image above represents the conditions like those in Ahold Delhaize’s supply chain.
CONSUMER PROTECTION
Customers deserve transparency and higher quality standards.
Representative of typical battery cage facility
A survey of Ahold Delhaize customers found that 85 percent opposed caged hen housing, preferring that hens be kept in open barns. The survey also found that the company’s labeling is misleading to a significant portion of its customers, who incorrectly believe eggs with certain labels at Ahold Delhaize stores are cage-free.
It’s clear Ahold Delhaize’s customers expect the company to transition to 100 percent cage-free — and that their loyalty depends on the company sticking to its word.
TAKE ACTION
Tell Ahold Delhaize executives to adopt a meaningful policy to address this cruelty
Is JJ Fleeman to blame for Ahold Delhaize’s animal welfare failures?
In the Netherlands, Ahold Delhaize’s home country, cruel battery cages have been banned for years. But in America, animals and consumers are subjected to lower standards—why? How can we trust a company with such a stark double standard?
As the CEO of Ahold Delhaize USA, JJ Fleeman calls the shots on policies and practices in the company’s American supply chain. He is aware of the concerns related to these practices, and under his leadership, the company has dragged its feet and greenwashed its policies.
KING OF CRUELTY
Let’s take a closer look at Ahold Delhaize’s 2024 policy on caging animals.
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Can you really trust a company to follow through on its commitments if they are riddled with caveats? What stars need to align in order for Ahold Delhaize to take this issue seriously?
Notable mentions include “availability within the supply chain,” “demand among customers,” and “legislation and regulatory compliance with programs like WIC.” Given so much of the egg market has already transitioned to cage-free, these are just excuses the company makes to avoid doing the right thing. -
Ahold Delhaize promised customers back in 2016 that by 2025, all of its eggs would be from more humane, cage-free operations. Despite allowing itself nearly a decade to make progress, the company dragged its feet, and in 2024 announced it would need another 8 years to meet its goal.
Meanwhile, McDonald’s is 100 percent cage-free two years ahead of its own goal, and Costco is nearly 100% cage-free. -
Ahold Delhaize has an abysmal track record, so it’s critical that the company put tangible action plans in place to address animal cruelty.
We are asking the company to set clear timelines to first transition its private label eggs to cage-free and then to reduce the number of inhumane cage eggs it offers on its shelves.
If the company is refusing to be transparent about its plans, how can we trust it will take any action at all?
Follow the Global Campaign
These corporate elites are raking in millions while animals suffer.
Ahold Delhaize’s board members have the power to change the company’s practices – and full awareness of the ongoing cruelty. But they continue to put profit above ethics.
