Earls Makes the Shift to "Certified Humane" Beef

Earls Kitchen + Bar made a “really big” announcement yesterday, when they tweeted their decision to shift to 100% ‘Certified Humane’ beef.

The chain began as a startup in Edmonton, Alberta in 1982, and has since grown to include 66 locations, 59 of which are in Canada. According to the company’s site, their traditions have long been centred around homemade grub and locally-sourced ingredients. But, due to a lack of supply, the chain has moved south to source beef.

As our commitment to Conscious Sourcing grew, we made the decision that Certified Humane beef was important to us and started sourcing in Canada. However, after months of trying, we were unable to source a federally inspected, Certified Humane producer that could consistently meet our large supply needs. We travelled to see the ranches and abattoirs in the US, met with Dr. Temple Grandin…and in this case, Certified Humane was more important to us than origin, so we chose a US supplier for our beef.

With ‘Certified Humane’ designation top of mind, Earls now sources beef from Creekstone Farms in Kansas. According to their website, Creekstone Farms does not use antibiotics, growth promoting drugs or artificial ingredients. Nor do they add hormones. Their black angus cattle are source verified, fed a 100% vegetarian diet, and are humanely handled.

The company still sources pork produced in Canada, cage-free eggs from both Canada and the United States, and local, free-run chicken.

“Earls can definitely affect change because of our decision to take on the initiative to do more with our ingredients, to find a cleaner source,” said Mo Jessa, Earls Restaurants’ president. “The entire industry changes because of it…and not only does it match the expectations of our staff, it matches their values. It’s a proud day for all of us.”

The company says their change to 100% Certified Humane beef is part of their “Commitment to Conscious Sourcing.”

Twitter Responds:

This is really big.
Earls is the first chain in North America to source all its beef from Certified Humane® farms https://t.co/nmRRucN4Zg

— Earls Restaurants (@earlsrestaurant) April 27, 2016

We are very excited to have #Earls on board with our Creekstone Farms program!https://t.co/T6H3rq3xRF pic.twitter.com/RiVJR3aHIC

— Creekstone Farms (@CreekstoneFarms) April 27, 2016

@earlsrestaurant thank you but what about chicken, pork, etc?

— Rod Kenny (@yv_rk) April 27, 2016

@earlsrestaurant Find me a Certified Inhumane® farm in Alberta.

— Bitumen is Best (@BitumenBubble) April 27, 2016

@meganpratt @GiantBlueRing we do! Just not enough Certified Humane is available to meet our demand. If that changes we will revist suppliers

— Earls Restaurants (@earlsrestaurant) April 27, 2016

@earlsrestaurant Alberta has some of the highest standards for animal welfare. #misinformed #ABag

— Maria Boychuk (@MBphotoandvideo) April 27, 2016

Is it Canadian beef? https://t.co/V8ov70Ktv4

— Brad Wall (@PremierBradWall) April 27, 2016

@earlsrestaurant Apparently believing in food myths is more important than sourcing locally or even with Canada. Pathetic.

— ScottyHeps (@scottyheps) April 27, 2016

@DSolberg We did research & testing for 2yrs+ using Certified Humane beef from AB, simply not enough CH supply in Canada to meet our volume

— Earls Restaurants (@earlsrestaurant) April 27, 2016

@earlsrestaurant how about work with Canadian producers instead of going for the quick fix photo op and ditching Canadian jobs? #shinythings

— Scott Wenger (@cowgaryblue) April 27, 2016

“Certified humane” is self-regulated & still means giant feedlots. I’d rather Canadian organic (real label, not marketing) @earlsrestaurant

— Jessica Scott-Reid (@JessLReid) April 27, 2016