Compass Group to Source Only Gestation Crate Free Pork
The world's largest foodservice company plans to transition its U.S. pork supply by summer 2023 after years of delays.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Vegetarian
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Compass Group USA, the world's largest foodservice company, has pledged to source only gestation crate free pork by summer 2023, with pigs group housed for at least five to seven days. The commitment follows an initial 2012 pledge to eliminate gestation crates from its U.S. supply chain by 2017.
Why it matters
Compass Group North America serves dining operations at more than 10,000 schools, colleges, universities, corporations, hospitals, senior living centers, sports and entertainment venues, and cultural institutions, so its sourcing decisions reach a large share of institutional meals. The company attributes its missed deadlines to industrywide supply chain challenges.
Fiscal 2022 purchasing data show 82% of shell eggs and 85% of liquid eggs were cage free, against a 100% goal the company now expects to reach by Q1 2023. The company has not stated whether the summer 2023 pork transition will be fully achieved.
The players
Compass Group USA
Compass Group USA is the U.S. arm of the world's largest foodservice company, operating dining brands including Bon Appétit, Canteen, Restaurant Associates, and Wolfgang Puck Catering.
Humane Farm Animal Care
Humane Farm Animal Care is an animal welfare certification organization whose standards Compass Group has adopted for its animal protein purchases.
The details
Compass Group will move to, at minimum, group housed pork, with pigs crated five to seven days, by summer 2023. The company says its egg commitments have fallen short of 100% cage-free due to supply chain disruptions, and it is developing a roadmap on all aspects of the Better Chicken Commitment standard for release in 2023.
Timeline
2010: Commitment to eliminate recombinant bovine growth hormone from liquid dairy products and yogurt begins.
2012: Initial commitment to eliminate gestation crates from the U.S. supply chain is announced.
2015: Goal set to double Humane Farm Animal Care certified animal protein volume by 2020.
2017: Original deadline for eliminating gestation crates passes.
Summer 2023: Target date to transition to group housed, gestation crate free pork.
Roadmap
Compass Group's pork and egg pledges extend a welfare trajectory that began with its 2010 dairy hormone commitment and its 2012 gestation crate pledge. Its planned roadmap for the Better Chicken Commitment would apply the same pattern to poultry sourcing.
Shoppers and diners at institutions served by Compass Group may notice changes in pork and egg sourcing as the company moves toward its cage-free and gestation crate free targets. The company's timelines are forward-looking, so actual menu changes will depend on whether its supply chain goals are met.
The takeaway
Institutional buyers and diners can track whether Compass Group meets its summer 2023 pork and Q1 2023 egg deadlines, since its past delays show that stated welfare timelines often slip. Watching its published progress updates is the clearest way to judge whether the commitments are being kept.
What happens next
Compass Group expects to reach its 100% cage-free egg goal by Q1 2023, provide an update on its Better Chicken Commitment working group actions in Q1 2023, and release its Better Chicken Commitment roadmap in 2023.
Further reading
For more on the meat-free options shaping institutional menus, see the Vegetarian section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Feedstuffs.
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