Celebrating the Holidays with Compassion: A Conversation with Butterball

Summary

Podcast Title: Robin's Nest from American Humane
Episode: Celebrating the Holidays with Compassion: A Conversation with Butterball
Release Date: December 16, 2024
Host: Dr. Robin Ganzert
Guest: Dr. Alice Johnson, Senior Vice President of Food Safety, Regulatory, and Animal Wellbeing at Butterball

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Introduction

In this heartfelt episode of Robin's Nest, Dr. Robin Ganzert welcomes Dr. Alice Johnson from Butterball, a leading figure in the poultry industry known for her unwavering commitment to animal welfare. The conversation delves into Butterball's dedication to humane treatment of animals, innovative practices in food production, and the company's role in shaping industry standards.

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Butterball’s Commitment to Animal Welfare

Establishing Humane Standards

Dr. Alice Johnson begins by outlining Butterball’s foundational principles centered around animal care and wellbeing. "We consider ourselves to be a leader in the animal care and wellbeing space. We do that to assure that the trust our consumers put in this brand is well represented," she states at [01:30]. Butterball aligns its practices with the five freedoms of animal welfare:

1. Freedom from hunger and thirst
2. Freedom from discomfort
3. Freedom from pain, injury, and disease
4. Freedom to exhibit normal behavior
5. Freedom from fear and distress

Dr. Johnson emphasizes, “We realized that [industry standards] wasn’t enough. We had to push ourselves,” highlighting Butterball's proactive approach to surpassing baseline requirements ([02:55]).

Third-Party Audits and Transparency

Butterball was an early adopter of third-party audits, partnering with the USDA and later American Humane Association (AHA) in 2013 ([03:32]). Dr. Johnson explains, “We require all of our contract farmers, all our facilities, all our contractors to meet that or they cannot produce for Butterball” ([09:56]). This stringent auditing process ensures that only those who meet high welfare standards continue to partner with Butterball.

A notable initiative is the establishment of the Bird Care Hotline, a confidential channel where employees and contractors can report mistreatment without fear of retaliation ([05:11]). Dr. Johnson remarks, “It allows us to go out and investigate to be sure that we are doing what is right for the birds and ensuring the safety of our birds” ([05:14]).

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Innovation in Animal Welfare

Research and Development

Dr. Johnson highlights Butterball's collaboration with universities and researchers to advance humane practices. One significant innovation is the installation of cameras in barns to monitor handling and loading processes, allowing for real-time assessment and continuous improvement ([11:25]). “One of the things we did years ago was look at the loading and catching birds and worked with some researchers to establish science-based methods tailored for turkeys,” she explains ([12:15]).

Transportation and Handling Enhancements

Transportation and loading are critical areas where Butterball focuses its efforts to minimize stress and discomfort for the birds. Dr. Johnson mentions, “We looked at what needs to be considered when handling larger birds like turkeys, compared to smaller ones like chickens” ([13:28]). This tailored approach ensures that Butterball's practices are species-specific and scientifically informed.

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Building Consumer Trust Through Transparency

Certified Humane Labeling

Butterball products feature the American Humane logo, symbolizing their commitment to ethical practices. Dr. Johnson notes, “Our packaging has the American Humane logo, and there's a link consumers can click on to view our turkey standards” ([08:15]). This transparency allows consumers to verify Butterball's adherence to high welfare standards, fostering trust and confidence in their purchasing decisions.

Extensive Product Line

Beyond whole turkeys, Butterball has expanded its product offerings to include ground turkey, turkey bacon, and turkey tenderloins, catering to health-conscious consumers seeking nutritious protein alternatives. Dr. Johnson proudly states, “One in every three turkeys that will be the centerpiece of the 2024 Thanksgiving meal will be a Butterball” ([06:05]). This expansion not only meets diverse consumer needs but also emphasizes Butterball's role in promoting healthy and humane food choices year-round.

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Future Initiatives and Industry Leadership

Ongoing Research and Standards Development

Looking ahead, Butterball is committed to continuous improvement in animal welfare. Dr. Johnson shares, “We are constantly exploring new methods and working with researchers to fill gaps in our understanding and practices” ([11:25]). This dedication ensures that Butterball remains at the forefront of humane animal handling and food safety standards.

Global Impact and Industry Influence

Butterball's collaboration with American Humane extends beyond national borders, influencing global standards and practices. Dr. Johnson highlights, “Our partnership has helped uplift standards not just in our country but around the world” ([14:20]). This global perspective underscores Butterball's leadership in advocating for ethical treatment of animals in the poultry industry.

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Personal Insights and Lighthearted Moments

Humor and Camaraderie

Throughout the episode, Dr. Johnson and Dr. Ganzert engage in lighthearted banter about turkeys, adding a personal touch to the conversation. For instance, discussing turkey leg preferences, Dr. Johnson humorously states, “Yeah, I like the white meat” ([15:07]), fostering a relatable and enjoyable dialogue.

Celebrating Traditions

The conversation also touches on the cultural significance of Butterball turkeys in American holiday traditions. Dr. Johnson expresses pride in Butterball's role in family gatherings, saying, “Our purpose is to pass love on the generations” ([06:05]). This sentiment reinforces the emotional connection consumers have with Butterball products.

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Conclusion

In this engaging episode of Robin's Nest, Dr. Alice Johnson provides an in-depth look at Butterball's unwavering dedication to animal welfare, innovative practices, and commitment to transparency. Through rigorous standards, continuous research, and a strong partnership with American Humane, Butterball not only ensures the humane treatment of millions of turkeys but also builds lasting trust with consumers. This conversation serves as an inspiring example of how industry leaders can make a significant impact on animal welfare and set a benchmark for others to follow.

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Notable Quotes:

• Dr. Alice Johnson ([02:55]): “We realized that wasn’t enough. We had to push ourselves.”
• Dr. Alice Johnson ([05:14]): “It allows us to go out and investigate to be sure that we are doing what is right for the birds and ensuring the safety of our birds.”
• Dr. Alice Johnson ([06:05]): “Our purpose is to pass love on the generations.”
• Dr. Alice Johnson ([08:15]): “Our packaging has the American Humane logo, and there's a link consumers can click on to view our turkey standards.”
• Dr. Alice Johnson ([14:20]): “Our partnership has helped uplift standards not just in our country but around the world.”

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Transcript

[Robin]

Welcome to Robin's Nest. Many of us feel a deep bond with animals, from the pets we cherish at home to the endangered species in nature. Join us for lively, informative conversations where together we will build a more humane world. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Dr. Alice Johnson, a remarkable advocate for animal welfare. Dr. Johnson is the Senior Vice president of food safety, regulatory and animal well being. At Butterball, she plays a key role in ensuring the highest standards of care, safety and ethical responsibility in food production. With over 30 years of experience in the poultry industry, she's been a driving force behind Butterball success and at the forefront of innovations that not only improve food safety, but also set new benchmarks for animal welfare across the industry. Dr. Johnson. Alice, so great to have you here. You have been just a leader in the poultry space. You have been an innovator with Butterball. You've certainly been an incredible advocate for the animals. You're one of those pivotal people that when people talk about animal welfare, animal agriculture, they talk about Dr. Alice Johnson. So please share with us a little bit about Butterball's dedication to animal welfare from your voice.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Well, Robin, thank you so much for having me on Robin's Nest. I think this is so exciting.

[Robin]

You're in the nest today.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

We're in the nest. How fun. I want to talk about Butterball's commitment. We consider ourselves to be a leader in the animal care and wellbeing space. We do that to assure that the trust our consumers put in this brand is well represented. One of the things we do also, as far as brand reputation is we have certain core principles, core values that we carry through throughout the company. One of those is doing the right thing. The other and is our top priority is the safety of our people, our products and our turkeys. In order to do the right thing for our turkeys, you have to evaluate every step of their lives throughout production. Yes, we have made it a point in our original plans, animal care and well being plans to go beyond industry standard. We realized that wasn't enough. We had to push ourselves. In doing that, we looked at the five freedoms of animal welfare, which I know the AHA is based on as well. And you know, these were established in 1960, but they're still very well respected and internationally recognized.

[Robin]

Yes.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Freedom from hunger and thirst. Freedom from discomfort. Freedom from pain, injury and disease. Freedom to exhibit normal behavior. And then of course, freedom from fear and distress.

[Robin]

Yes.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

We also recognized as part of our program the need to go beyond and do a third party audit. We were one of the first to partner with back then, usda. This was pre aha, usda, United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Marketing Service. We had government representatives come on our farms, come in our facilities and audit. At that point, they were looking to see we were doing what our program said we were doing.

[Robin]

How long ago was that? 20 some years ago. 25 years ago.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Oh, now we're telling ages.

[Robin]

No, no, A while back.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, a little while back. It had to be. We came in with aha in 2013.

[Robin]

Yes.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

So it was around 2011.

[Robin]

11. Okay. So a decade ago plus.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Yeah. And it was just a natural transition to move from that into American humane and looking at moving our programs up to the science based, peer reviewed standards that AHA had for certification. It was a great transition for us. We also believe in Butterball, that, you know, our zero policy, zero tolerance for any type of mistreatment. We do. Extensive training is required under the audit, under the criteria. And we train our contract farms, which there are about a little over 600. All of our associates are contract hatcheries, and anybody within the facility has to be trained or if they contract with Butterball, they have to understand the zero tolerance policy and they have to understand that they're responsible for reporting. Should they see something they perceive as mistreatment, they are told in orientation. There are signs all over the buildings as well as the farms. We actually and aha helped us get this an 800 for bird care number that individuals can call if they perceive mistreatment and they're not comfortable going to their direct supervisors. They can call that number without any fear of retaliation. It's all confidential.

[Robin]

A hotline?

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Yeah, a hotline.

[Robin]

A good old fashioned hotline.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Bird care hotline. You know, I love that. And it allows us to go out and investigate to be sure that we are doing what is right for the birds and ensuring the safety of our birds.

[Robin]

Well, it's quite comprehensive what's been created through the Butterball program. And what I have to say is, as we think about holidays and we think about so much of our Americana life, we think about the Butterball turkey. So I really applaud. You know, it's always, that's what the brand is. The brand equals. An Americana family holiday, a home. It's generation to generation learning how to make the best family turkey, right? And all the conversations about the recipes for the turkey. It's the centerpiece of so many of our family reunions and holidays and very special times. And Butterball's been that for years and years and years, hasn't it?

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Our purpose is to pass love on the generations. Teaching people how to do the bird teach, getting the family together. That's all a part of the Butterball. And I have to brag, I'm very, very proud of statistics say that one in every three turkeys that will be the centerpiece of the 2024 Thanksgiving meal.

[Robin]

Will be a Butterball one out of three.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Now, Robin, how better can we assure a humane table for our consumers? I just think it's awesome.

[Robin]

I think it's absolutely awesome because I know exactly what you do to ensure that. And you know, you talked about it and you speak so eloquently about all the different standards being implement the care, the training, the employee training, the culture, and then to carry it through with a hotline. You know, all of that reinforces your core values at Butterball throughout.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

It really does.

[Robin]

600 farms with the different employees and the like. It's wonderful to be commended. And then to take it to the level beyond USDA into a voluntarily third party audit is incredible. When I think about Butterball and I think about all the, you know, the incredible family dinner tables, all those types of conversations, I think about the important work of animal protein choices that a family makes every day. And families, moms or dads, when they go to the grocery store and are looking for those proteins, there's been a push for more poultry and the health. And Butterball's expanded a product line like no other. So me who has to watch such things as see the cholesterol board, I love your Butterball breakfast sausages. I mean, it's so nice to know. And for appetizers, the kiel balsa, it's just all incredible in terms of the expansion of Butterball from the beyond the.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Whole bird into our ground turkey, our turkey bacon, our turkey tenderloins.

[Robin]

Yeah, no, and health. I mean healthy. So healthy.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

And we put all of our packaging has the American Humane logo on it. You know, as part of what we want, consumers want to feel good about what they're eating. Right. We have our logo. There's actually a link. The interested consumers can click on that link and it goes to the American Humane association website, even down to look at the turkey standards that we hold our company to. I think, I think that's awesome.

[Robin]

Transparency builds consumer trust. Butterball already had the consumer trust with this incredible Thanksgiving holiday, Christmas holiday, any sort of holiday celebration. But then you're carrying it through 365 days a year with product offerings that really align with consumers interest in humane treatment and the Values of health too, as alternatives for animal protein too, that may be more healthy or has proven to be more healthy.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

We certainly, we certainly believe that.

[Robin]

The literature has shown and our family eats a lot of ground Butterball turkey too, which is great for chilies and all sorts of recipes.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

And one other thing on the transparency, the third party audits. Now, we definitely view those audits as something that are consumer facing, as you know. And as of 2024, right now, as we speak, the auditors have been in close to 450 turkey barns. Right. They've been in our facilities, they've been in our contract hatcheries and observed our contract loading crews. Right. As part of those audits, as you know, you have to have a certain score to be certified.

[Robin]

Yes.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

We require all of our contract farmers, all our facilities, all our contractors to meet that or they cannot produce for Butterball. They cannot be associated with Butterball as part of that audit. American Humane keeps the database. Yes, we do the audits and the scores are all in there. And American Humane is in charge of that database. And if we have customers that want to see the audits, including the scores, they can go to American Humane and they can pull those up, talk about.

[Robin]

Transparency and talk about doing all the steps right. To build the consumer faith and trust. It's incredible. It's remarkable. You know, we talked about why is American Humane certified so valuable for Butterball? Clearly, consumer trust and transparency.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Well, it's also helped us. I mean, we have grown as a company because of our experience with American Humane. And I'd like to think not only Butterball, but other parts of the industry have grown as well as we look at these standards and we work together to do the research, to get, to get, to get to the next step as new things come available that we need to be looking at.

[Robin]

So I wanted to talk to you about new things beyond certification, which I know has been a core value and it also is important for your customers too. What future initiatives or improvements in animal care is Butterball focusing on?

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Oh my goodness, we are on the move. Have some really good folks working within Butterball Ball that are constantly looking. We need to explore this, we need to explore that. We also do a lot of work with universities. We supply the farms, we supply, if they need birds, we give them whatever they need to help with their research. One of the things that we do, and again I'm going to brag on us, is one of the first. We put cameras out in our barns for loading. This has been so amazing from an animal Care and wellbeing to look at treatment but also to look at gaps that there may be in research on how we're handling these birds and what we're doing. And that has been one of the things we're focusing on as to what do we do differently to make the bird more comfortable during that process.

[Robin]

Right.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

We also, we've been really transportation and loading focus.

[Robin]

Well, I want to stop you there and remind our listeners how big is a turkey versus a chicken? Because when I think people, you know, they don't really know the difference. A turkey's a big bird.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Yes. No. You know the joke, we play it on you all the time. We are not a big chicken. Right. And that's one of the things that we've done with a lot of the research and working with your group with American Humane. A lot of the standards were not established for turkeys on a science based method. They were more for the chicken guys. The little birds, our turkeys will be between 46 to 50 pounds or some of the smaller ones will run between, you know, from the Butterball little ones that are 12 to 20 something. Right. If it's a whole bird versus what we're doing for our further processed products. But one of the things we did back years ago was we looked at the loading on catching birds and worked with some of the researchers and actually had a peer reviewed article that helped to establish. This is what you need to think about when you're, when you're looking. Working with the bigger bird.

[Robin]

Yes.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

But we are not big chicken. I love that.

[Robin]

No big chicken talk here, that's for sure.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Yeah, no, we only talk turkey.

[Robin]

You're a turkitarian too. We can go on for like the next hour on Turkey.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

We can do turkey jokes.

[Robin]

Yeah, that's fine. I love it. But your innovation is back to. Your innovation is significant and how you've really driven excellence in the industry and that's been Butterball's culture and devoted to this too, to expanding that scientific body of evidence on the humane treatment of animals that we've built goes and pays it forward to anybody who wants to. Because as peer review research is done, it's put out there in the open.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

So that everybody to take advantage of. Yes.

[Robin]

Not just in our country, but indeed around the world to uplift the standards of care. And you've helped to lead that effort.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

And that's one thing I appreciate the opportunity that we as Butterball have had to work with American Humane and to look at some of the gaps within, within the treatment and to Try to figure out ways, either through researchers or what we could do within our company to cover some of these.

[Robin]

Science is evolving.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

I think our partnership with American Humane has really been great for Butterball. And as I said, and you were commenting, the whole industry.

[Robin]

The whole industry. And again, not just in our country, but indeed around the world, we've uplifted the standards of care in partnership together, which is fantastic. So now we have to pivot to one of the most important conversations we have at our household at this time of year. Do you eat the leg or the breast? What do you eat on the turkey?

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

You eat everything and you enjoy every bite.

[Robin]

But what about you? Because there's only two legs in our turkey. Are you gonna be. We have people fighting over those legs.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Yeah, I like the white meat.

[Robin]

The white meat. Okay, good. Well, you're welcome to come to our.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

House for Thanksgiving, because I'm not gonna take your leg.

[Robin]

And we've got someone else on the other leg every year. It's so much fun, though. Well, Alice, you are such a joy. Thank you for being a leader in the space. Thank you for all you've done to improve the treatment of millions of millions of animals. It's really so important for us to have this conversation to educate so many people in Robin's Nest. We don't often talk about animals and food production, and we need to talk more about it because it's how we can really show what it is to.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Be humane, the awareness of what's happening going on, and again, appreciate what we, as Butterball and American Humane have done and certainly look forward to where we're going to go.

[Robin]

That's right. Thank you so much for being part of Robin's Nest and importantly for setting the humane table every day.

[Dr. Alice Johnson]

Thank you.

[Robin]

Thanks for listening to Robin's Nest. I hope you enjoyed today's conversation and learned more about the work we're doing to protect animals everywhere. Don't forget to stay connected with us at American Humane. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Ericanhumane. And if you're not already subscribed, make sure to follow Robin's Nest so you never miss an episode. Thanks again. And remember, every act of kindness makes a difference.