Local Animal Welfare Group Petitions Aldi on Pork Supply Chain

In September 2019, representatives of Batavia-based grocer Aldi met with local farm animal welfare advocate Jess Chipkin, founder of Crate Free USA (formerly Crate Free Illinois), and agreed to update Aldi’s online animal welfare policy around a specific practice. Yet two years later, there is no evidence of any change to this particular animal welfare practice.

At issue are “gestation crates,” which Aldi’s major fresh pork suppliers use to confine pregnant pigs. Metal stalls roughly the same size as a pig’s body, gestation crates are so small that pigs cannot turn around, take a single step or stretch their limbs. Gestation crates have been widely condemned as inhumane. “Think of yourself as being trapped in an airline seat for most of your entire life,” Chipkin says.

Crate Free USA's online petition calling on Aldi to commit to ending this practice now has over 354,000 supporters. With public pressure increasing, many major food retailers have adopted timelines to eliminate gestation crates, including major grocery brands Kroger, Target, Trader Joe's, and Costco. Today, Canada, the EU, and 10 U.S. states have outlawed gestation crates in order to protect these animals from what is perceived by many as animal cruelty.

In 2019, Aldi's Brian Trusheim, Director of Corporate Buying, and Susie Wendel, then Director of Corporate Responsibility and Quality Assurance, met with Chipkin and Josh Balk, Vice President of Farm Animal Protection for the Humane Society of the U.S. Afterwards, Aldi updated its animal welfare policy to read, “We expect our suppliers to pursue the elimination of crates for pregnant sows in favor of group housing.”

At the time, Chipkin praised Aldi’s commitment as a good start, but noted the language lacked a binding timeline. Today she states, “It’s good that Aldi added that sentence, but an 'expectation' can continue in perpetuity. Without a firm commitment to a public timeline or any updates on progress, that sentence can appear as simply words on a page."

In September 2021, almost two years after Aldi updated its policy language, Aldi Public Relations Manager Caitlyn Luchsinger did not respond to emails asking how she would quantify Aldi’s pork producers' progress toward the goal of eliminating gestation crates. She offered no response to Chipkin’s suggestion of adding a timeline. She did not respond to the question, “What reporting mechanisms, if any, is Aldi using in order to ensure that its suppliers are eliminating gestation crates?”

Chipkin urges consumers to sign Crate Free USA's Change.org petition and to call Aldi’s customer service line at 800-325-7894 to ask them about progress on gestation crates. “In so many areas, Aldi listens to its customers,” she said. “They’ve taken a good first step by acknowledging that gestation crates need to be phased out. It’s time we ask them to follow through and show that they mean business.”