Bon Appétit Standards
- Our ground beef is from cattle that have been humanely raised (from either a Farm to Fork vendor or one certified by Humane Farm Animal Care or Global Animal Partnership), on a 100% vegetarian diet, with no antibiotics or artificial hormones
- Other beef cuts are from cattle raised without antibiotics as a first preference.
- We do not serve veal from calves raised in crates.
- Roast beef and other deli meats are roasted in-house daily.
In addition, Bon Appétit chefs often seek out grass-fed beef producers through our Farm to Fork program.
Future goals: We are considering a revised antibiotics policy for all our contracted beef, not just ground. As with dairy, we are asking all of our beef suppliers to cease dehorning without pain management by 2026, or sooner if there are breakthroughs on resolving these issues (such as using polled genetics so that cattle are born without horns).
Temporary Change in Certified Humane Ground Beef Supply Availability
In July 2024, Bon Appétit Management Company’s purchasing team learned that our primary supplier of Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC)-certified beef — which is used to make the ground beef carrying the Certified Humane™ label that our teams purchase nationwide — has chosen to permanently stop carrying the certification. We value third-party verification, which is why we are actively seeking new suppliers that have been certified by one of our accepted certifying programs — HFAC, Animal Welfare Approved, Food Alliance, or Global Animal Partnership.
As we seek new suppliers that carry an acceptable certification, we will continue to source ground beef from our current supplier to ensure its consistent availability for our guests and clients. While our current ground beef will no longer carry the HFAC certification, it is our understanding that the animal welfare standards for the product will not change in the near future. While estimating the precise date when a new supply will be available nationwide is impossible, we expect this change to be temporary and hope to have a new supply available in most locations by early 2025.