Animal rights extremist organizations are known for pressuring restaurant and retail brands from different angles. Recently, our attention has been on the boardroom as animal rights groups, specifically the Humane Society of the United States and The Accountability Board, are taking their plight to public-facing companies.
The Accountability Board, an organization launched in 2022 and led by two former HSUS leaders, has been responsible for the bulk of the effort, reportedly filing approximately 30 proposals so far this year targeting national restaurant chains. HSUS has been responsible for another 10 proposals. These 40 shareholders proposals are reported to be double what was filed last year against similar public companies for what a recent Bloomberg article called, “growing concern for animal treatment.”
The article continued to say that these types of resolutions “rarely have ample support” but as members of the agricultural community, this is still of great concern. This could potentially impact the pork community – and your pepperoni supply – with one of the cited examples being a previous filing from The Humane Society of the United States to a well-known national pizza chain. The proposal alleged that the company was not transparent in its plan to move away from gestation stalls.
The Accountability Board has been targeting other national restaurant brands with similar claims of “lack of transparency” specifically around gestation stalls for sows. As activist groups try to become more influential in this space and target companies as investors or shareholders, it’s our recommendation for public-facing companies to be wary of this tactic. The best advice we can offer for any targeted company is to have awareness of the true intent behind these organizations.
It’s not surprising that groups like The Accountability Board and HSUS, as well as others, continue to disrupt the ability of restaurant and retail brands to oversee their own operations and bring nutritious, affordable and delicious meat, poultry, dairy, eggs and seafood to the majority of consumers that choose to keep it on their plates. If the market truly was calling for these changes, we would expect these industry leaders to make these changes of their own volition – not through the pressure of animal rights groups. Brands, especially publicly traded ones, will need to prepare for continued attacks and the animal agriculture community will need to be there with support for their partners along the supply chain.
Abby Kornegay is the manager of issues and engagement for the Animal Agriculture Alliance.
