The phrase, “go woke, go broke,” doesn’t seem to have played out in the real world. An analysis of S&P 500 companies that kept diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs found that those firms maintained their financial performance in comparison with companies that retreated from DEI initiatives.
The analysis was conducted by Jacob Grumbach, associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. He shared his results with the Guardian.
Grumbach examined S&P 500 companies after the January 2025 anti-DEI executive orders from the U.S. federal government. For example, Google, Goldman Sachs, McDonald’s and Walmart scaled back or eliminated DEI, while Costco, Apple and Delta Air Lines kept theirs.
Grumbach used “abnormal returns,” the difference between expected and actual stock performance, to assess whether maintaining DEI policies affected financial results.
What’s more, in the days immediately following the federal anti-DEI executive orders, companies that maintained their policies actually outperformed those that did not.
DEI efforts extend throughout the pet food supply chain too, from ingredient suppliers and processing-equipment manufacturers to packaging companies, engineering firms and contract manufacturers. A review of companies listed in the Petfood Industry Solutions supplier directory identified 50 suppliers or their parent companies with publicly documented DEI, inclusion, belonging, employee-resource or related workforce initiatives. Some programs apply specifically to pet food operations, while others are company-wide programs that encompass businesses serving pet food manufacturers. This list is not exhaustive and may have excluded (ironically) some companies.
1. AFB International
AFB International, a global supplier of pet food palatants, has incorporated diversity and inclusion directly into its sustainability program. Its initiatives have included unconscious-bias education, diversity training, efforts to increase workforce diversity and recruiting outreach that includes historically Black colleges and universities. Because AFB's core business is pet food palatability, its program is one of the most directly pet food-focused examples on this list.
2. ADM
ADM describes diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging as components of its corporate culture and supports employee resource groups and inclusive workplace programs. Its extensive animal and pet nutrition operations supply ingredients, supplements, premixes and finished pet products. ADM's Pet Nutrition business includes product development and manufacturing capabilities for pet foods, treats and supplements.
3. Ahlstrom
Ahlstrom has pursued diversity and inclusion through leadership education, mentoring, employee networks and efforts to improve gender representation. The fiber-based materials manufacturer supplies specialty packaging materials for food and other consumer products. Its presence in the pet food supply chain primarily comes through packaging.
4. American Packaging Corporation
American Packaging Corporation includes diversity and inclusion within its social sustainability strategy. The company has reported D&I training and recruiting partnerships intended to expand opportunities for veterans and minority candidates. Its flexible packaging operations serve food markets that include pet food applications.
5. Anderson-Negele / Ralliant
Ralliant, parent company of Anderson-Negele, identifies inclusion, diversity and equity as part of its people strategy and supports employee resource groups. Anderson-Negele supplies hygienic instrumentation and sensors used in food and beverage processing. Those technologies can also be used in wet pet food and other sanitary pet food processing environments.
6. The Andersons
The Andersons has supported employee-led diversity and inclusion groups, including its P.R.I.D.E. organization. The agribusiness supplies grains and other agricultural commodities that can enter animal feed and pet food supply chains. Its DEI efforts are corporate-wide rather than specific to pet nutrition.
7. Balchem
Balchem organizes its efforts around creating a culture of belonging and maintaining a diverse workforce. Its approach includes a formal diversity and inclusion policy and participation in CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion. Balchem's Animal Nutrition & Health segment makes the program particularly relevant to suppliers of nutritional technologies used in animal and companion animal products.
8. Bühler
Bühler has used programs including Allyship for Leaders, Beyond Bias workshops and initiatives supporting women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The company is a major supplier of extrusion, drying and other processing technologies. Its equipment is widely applicable to dry pet food and treat production.
9. BW Design Group / Barry-Wehmiller
BW Design Group participates in the broader Barry-Wehmiller approach to inclusion through BW Inclusion and related leadership programs. The organization integrates diversity and inclusion topics into employee development and workplace culture. Design Group serves food and manufacturing clients, including operations relevant to pet food production and packaging.
10. Caldic
Caldic says it promotes belonging through diversity and allyship training, professional development and inclusive leadership. Its animal nutrition business supplies ingredients and technical expertise to companion animal companies, including solutions for kibble, wet food, treats and supplements. Caldic therefore represents a direct intersection between a corporate inclusion program and pet nutrition.
11. Cargill
Cargill maintains a broad diversity, equity and inclusion strategy encompassing recruiting, career development and workplace culture. Its initiatives include employee groups representing women, Black employees, Hispanic and Latino employees, LGBTQ+ employees, people with disabilities, veterans and other communities. Cargill's Pet Nutrition & Health business provides ingredients, premixes, technical services and pet food manufacturing, giving the corporate program a direct pet food connection.
12. Clextral / Legris Industries
Clextral is part of Legris Industries, which has incorporated diversity into its corporate social responsibility and human resources approach. Clextral is particularly relevant to pet food as a manufacturer of twin-screw extrusion systems. Its technology is used for products including extruded dry pet foods and treats.
13. Coperion / Hillenbrand
Hillenbrand has maintained corporate diversity and inclusion initiatives that encompass its operating companies, including Coperion. Coperion supplies material handling, extrusion and complete processing systems to food and pet food manufacturers. The company's extensive pet food equipment portfolio makes the parent company's workforce policies relevant to the pet food processing sector.
14. Corbion
Corbion has reported measures such as blind recruiting practices designed to reduce bias along with employee initiatives including CorbiYoung. The specialty ingredients company supplies preservation and functional technologies to food and nutrition markets. Its products also have applications in animal nutrition and pet food formulation.
15. CRB
CRB maintains formal diversity, equity and inclusion programs and employee organizations including Women at CRB and a racial equity and diversity group. The design, engineering and construction firm has substantial experience with food manufacturing facilities. CRB also specifically serves pet food processors, making its DEI activities directly relevant to the industry's engineering sector.
16. Dennis Group
Dennis Group addresses inclusion through its Thrive Together initiative and employee groups such as Women@DG. The engineering and construction company specializes in food and beverage manufacturing facilities. Its dedicated pet food expertise includes designing and building production plants for pet food manufacturers.
17. dsm-firmenich
dsm-firmenich operates an Inclusion & Belonging program encompassing employee resource groups, inclusive recruiting, allyship, respectful-workplace education and women's professional development. The company has historically maintained extensive animal nutrition activities, including nutritional premixes and specialty ingredients used in pet foods. Its animal nutrition portfolio has been undergoing ownership changes, so the relationship between current corporate programs and particular operations should be evaluated when reporting on individual facilities.
18. Ecolab
Ecolab has one of the more extensive employee-resource-group systems among suppliers in the directory. Its programs have encompassed thousands of employees across numerous countries and are accompanied by inclusive-leadership initiatives. Ecolab's sanitation, food safety and hygiene technologies are applicable to pet food manufacturing facilities.
19. Fonterra
Fonterra has pursued representation targets, pay-equity work, diversity education and goals for gender balance in senior leadership. The dairy cooperative produces dairy-derived nutritional ingredients used across food and nutrition markets. Those ingredients can also enter pet food and animal nutrition formulations.
20. Foth
Foth has reported diversity recruiting, networking groups and education addressing unconscious bias and conscious inclusion. The engineering firm designs industrial and food manufacturing operations. Its expertise can extend to facilities and processes used by pet food manufacturers.
21. GEA
GEA maintains diversity and inclusion policies and programs within its global People & Culture organization. Activities have included women's networks and other inclusion initiatives. GEA also supplies processing systems specifically for pet food, including preparation, forming and thermal-processing technologies.
22. Givaudan
Givaudan publicly reports on inclusion and workforce diversity and maintains a corporate diversity position. The company tracks representation within leadership and other levels of the workforce. Through its pet food activities, Givaudan supplies solutions associated with taste, sensory performance and related pet food applications.
23. Glanbia
Glanbia has a formal Inclusion & Belonging policy and employee resource groups supporting women, LGBTQ+ employees, multicultural communities and other groups. The nutrition company also incorporates inclusive-leadership practices into its workforce strategy. Glanbia supplies nutritional ingredients and premixes with applications that can include animal and pet nutrition.
24. Gray / Gray AES
Gray supports diversity recruiting and professional-development efforts such as Gray Groundbreaking Women. The engineering, architecture and construction company has significant experience designing and building manufacturing facilities. Its portfolio includes pet food facilities, giving its workforce initiatives a direct connection to pet food infrastructure.
25. Haskell
Haskell operates Haskell Together as a formal diversity and inclusion initiative. Programming has addressed subjects including allyship, neurodiversity and women's advancement. Haskell also has a Pet Food & Treats practice and has worked with major pet food manufacturers.
26. IMCD
IMCD reports measurable diversity objectives, including gender representation in management and commercial positions. The specialty chemicals and ingredients distributor serves food, nutrition and animal health markets. Its portfolio gives the company a role in supplying ingredients and functional technologies relevant to pet food formulation.
27. Innophos
Innophos has reported bias-aware recruiting, unconscious-bias training for interviewers, anti-discrimination training and pay-equity analysis. The specialty ingredient manufacturer produces phosphates, minerals and related nutritional ingredients. Some of those products have applications in animal nutrition and pet food.
28. JBT Marel / Wenger / Extru-Tech
JBT Marel supports employee networks including organizations for women, Black employees and veterans. The connection to pet food is particularly strong following the incorporation of Wenger and Extru-Tech into JBT Marel's processing portfolio. Both companies have longstanding roles in pet food extrusion, drying and production technology.
29. Kemin Industries
Kemin Industries has identified diversity, equity and inclusion as a corporate sustainability priority and has developed DEI education around multiple organizational pillars. Unlike many diversified suppliers, Kemin operates a dedicated Pet Food & Rendering business. Its products for pet food include antioxidants, palatants, food-safety technologies and functional ingredients.
30. Kerry
Kerry maintains a Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging framework supported by corporate leadership and company-wide initiatives. Kerry is best known for taste and nutrition technologies used throughout the food industry. Its extensive flavor, preservation and nutritional capabilities can also have applications in pet food and treats.
31. Kubota Brabender
Kubota publishes diversity and inclusion initiatives across its corporate group, which includes Brabender Technologie operations. Kubota Brabender supplies feeding, weighing and material-handling systems. These technologies are relevant to precise ingredient handling in pet food manufacturing plants.
32. Mitsubishi Gas Chemical America
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical maintains a formal corporate framework for promoting diversity and workforce inclusion. Its American subsidiary supplies specialty materials used across industrial and packaging markets. Its role in the directory relates particularly to materials that can be used in food and pet food packaging applications.
33. Mondi
Mondi incorporates diversity and inclusion into its sustainability strategy through employee networks, representation objectives and initiatives such as Curious Community. The global packaging producer manufactures paper and flexible packaging used throughout consumer goods markets. Its packaging portfolio includes formats applicable to pet food.
34. Novonesis
Novonesis maintains a formal diversity, equity and inclusion approach that includes employee surveys measuring belonging and fairness and employee resource groups at multiple locations. The biosolutions company supplies enzymes, microorganisms and other biological technologies. Its portfolio includes solutions for pet foods, treats and nutritional supplements.
35. Nutra Blend / Land O'Lakes
Land O'Lakes has used employee resource groups and mentoring programs to address different dimensions of workforce inclusion. At Nutra Blend's Neosho, Missouri, operation, an Aging Successfully employee group initiative has been used to facilitate knowledge transfer and accommodate differing learning and work styles. Nutra Blend supplies nutritional ingredients and premixes to animal nutrition companies, giving the initiative a direct connection to the broader feed and pet nutrition supply chain.
36. Nutreco / Trouw Nutrition
Nutreco has reported inclusive-leadership programs, efforts to reduce hiring bias and workforce representation goals. Trouw Nutrition is Nutreco's major animal nutrition business. Its nutritional technologies, premixes and feed expertise make the company's inclusion initiatives relevant to businesses operating at the intersection of animal feed and pet nutrition.
37. Phibro Animal Health
Phibro Animal Health identifies “Strength Through Diversity & Inclusion” within its human-capital strategy. The company develops animal health and nutritional specialty products rather than operating DEI solely through an unrelated parent corporation. That makes Phibro another relatively direct example from the animal nutrition portion of the pet food supply chain.
38. Phileo by Lesaffre
Lesaffre has established diversity and inclusion awareness and training initiatives across its organization. Phileo is Lesaffre's animal nutrition business and specializes in yeast-based microbial solutions. Its products are used to support nutrition and health in animal applications, including areas relevant to companion animal nutrition.
39. Prinova / NAGASE
NAGASE, parent of Prinova, maintains diversity initiatives addressing representation of women, employees with disabilities and employees from different national backgrounds. Prinova distributes and manufactures nutritional ingredients, flavors and premixes. Its ingredient portfolio makes it relevant to pet food manufacturers seeking functional and nutritional components.
40. Printpack
Printpack supports Business Resource Groups including the Inspire Women's Network, Young Professionals Network and AIM. The company describes these groups as mechanisms for strengthening inclusion and employee communities. Printpack's flexible packaging operations include applications for pet foods and treats.
41. ProAmpac
ProAmpac explicitly states that it seeks to attract a more diverse workforce and foster inclusion, involvement and belonging. The flexible packaging manufacturer identifies pet products among the markets it serves. Its DEI program therefore applies directly to a supplier producing packaging for pet food and related products.
42. Richardson International
Richardson International has published diversity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives, including inclusive workplace planning and mentorship activities. The agricultural company processes and supplies grains, oilseeds and other commodities. Those agricultural products place Richardson upstream from manufacturers of animal feed and pet food.
43. Scoular / Petsource
Scoular has employee resource groups and a formal commitment to expanding workplace inclusion and access to opportunity. Its pet food connection is especially clear through Petsource, which develops and manufactures freeze-dried ingredients and products for pet food companies. Scoular's pet food business therefore provides one of the strongest examples of corporate inclusion initiatives extending directly into a dedicated pet food operation.
44. Sika
Sika has pursued diversity through awareness programs, women's networking, workshops and training in managing diverse teams. The specialty chemicals company provides products used in industrial construction and manufacturing environments. Its relationship with pet food comes primarily through facilities, sanitation and construction-related applications rather than pet nutrition itself.
45. Sonoco
Sonoco operates employee resource groups representing Black employees, women, Latino employees, LGBTQ+ employees, employees with disabilities, military communities and others. These groups provide education, networking and professional-development opportunities. Sonoco manufactures packaging used across food and consumer-product markets, including pet food.
46. Symrise / Symrise Pet Food
Symrise incorporates diversity and inclusion into workforce management and has reported gender representation and other diversity measures. The connection to pet food is direct through Symrise Pet Food, which specializes in palatability, pet nutrition and pet food protection. That dedicated division makes Symrise one of the most pet-specific companies included in the supplier review.
47. The Weitz Company
The Weitz Company has established a DEI Council, business-unit ambassadors and supplier-diversity efforts. The construction company also supports initiatives designed to expand opportunities for underrepresented businesses within the building industry. Weitz's work in food manufacturing includes projects relevant to pet food production facilities.
48. Wacker Chemical Corporation
Wacker reports on diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity as part of its workforce strategy. Its initiatives include inclusive-workplace measures and efforts involving gender representation in management. Wacker supplies specialty chemical and functional ingredient technologies represented within the pet food ingredient supply chain.
49. WSP
WSP has maintained inclusion and diversity programs that include corporate councils, mentoring and employee-development activities. The global professional-services company provides engineering and consulting for industrial and manufacturing facilities. Its expertise can support the planning and development of food and pet food production operations.
50. Zinpro
Zinpro maintains one of the clearest formal DEI programs among animal nutrition suppliers. The company has operated a DEI Council, supported initiatives such as Women of Zinpro and worked with organizations that seek to expand participation in agriculture and related sciences. Because Zinpro's core business is developing nutritional trace-mineral technologies for animals, the company's diversity initiatives are closely tied to the same organization serving animal and pet nutrition customers.
These examples illustrate how DEI in the pet food supply chain extends well beyond pet food manufacturers themselves. Ingredient producers, equipment companies, packaging suppliers, engineering firms and other businesses serving pet food producers have developed initiatives ranging from employee resource groups and inclusive recruiting to mentoring, leadership development and representation goals. For pet food companies evaluating suppliers, these programs provide another window into how their business partners approach workforce and corporate responsibility.
