On April 19, the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Poultry & Eggs (US-RSPE) announced details of its new "Framework," the first-ever, multi-stakeholder sustainability reporting framework for the full U.S. supply chains for chicken, turkey, and eggs, from producer to final customer. 

This assessment will allow the entire value chain to better communicate with its stakeholders about the overall sustainability of U.S. poultry and create a clearer picture of how poultry products are produced.

US-RSPE also announced the Framework has moved from an idea, which began in early 2019, to practical application. Three full U.S. supply chain pilots (broilers, eggs, and turkey) have been completed with input from companies such as Butterball, Cal-Maine Foods, Cargill, McDonald's Corporation, Tyson Foods, and more. The pilot companies tested the Framework's metrics to make sure they were effective and implementable ahead of the anticipated full launch to the industry early next year.

US-RSPE will also report on the performance of the full supply chains, in addition to providing individual reports to participants. The Framework's sustainability measures across 13 priority areas were identified through a rigorous multi-year working group process. These priority areas are crucial to increasing trust with customers of U.S. chicken, turkey, and eggs.

The Framework's goal was to gather diverse input to make sure it would be effective and implementable. The multi-stakeholder structure of US-RSPE members that built the Framework include:

  • Retailers/grocery stores
  • Foodservice companies
  • Breeders
  • Hatcheries
  • Feed manufacturers
  • Farm operators
  • Processors and further processors
  • Renderers
  • Integrators
  • Non-government organizations
  • Allied industries (animal health providers, equipment manufacturers, etc.)