Arcos Dorados Holdings Inc. is the largest operator of McDonald’s restaurants in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the end of 2010, it represented 6.7% of McDonald’s franchised restaurants globally. It has more than 94,000 employees and serves more than 4.3 million customers daily.
Pigs – Isla del Sol, Colombia, 2009
Earlier this month, Arcos Dorados announced that it will require its pork suppliers to submit documented plans within two years to limit the use of sow stalls (also known in America as gestation crates for sows) with plans for alternative group housing. By the end of 2016, all pork procured by Arcos Dorados will be sourced by producers that can demonstrate that they have documented plans to promote group housing for their sows.
The company operates in 20 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela. This means that its decision will have a massive impact on the way pig farming is conducted in the continent, and set a precedent for the development of animal welfare policies in other areas of industrial farming.
You can read an article on Arcos Dorados’ choice on The Wall Street Journal’s website.
You can read (in Spanish) the announcement of their new policy on the Arcos Dorados website (See: Sustentabilidad – Liderazgo en bienestar animal).
