Evermore Pet Food said it will transition to in-ovo sexed eggs by the end of 2026, becoming the first U.S. pet food brand to eliminate male chick culling from its supply chain.
The company will source NestFresh's Humanely Hatched eggs, which use technology to identify embryo sex before hatching. The practice provides an alternative to culling male chicks, which affects an estimated 300 million chicks annually in the United States.
"Evermore Pet Food continues to set the standard for animal welfare in pet nutrition," said Franklin To, director of sales and revenue at NestFresh. "By incorporating pasture-raised eggs, and now becoming the first to use NestFresh Humanely Hatched eggs, Evermore is raising the bar for ingredient sourcing in the industry.
"Their commitment reflects a core belief we deeply share: the same care we bring to the food on our own tables should extend to the food we provide for our pets," continued To. "We're proud to partner with Evermore in this vision and hope their leadership inspires more companies to embrace these higher standards across all products that use eggs."
The sourcing change follows Evermore's previous animal welfare initiatives, including meeting 100% of the Better Chicken Commitment standards and sourcing Global Animal Partnership Step 4 pasture-raised, slow-growth chicken.
"Animal welfare has guided every sourcing decision since day one," said Alison Blumberg, Evermore co-founder. "Transitioning to in-ovo sexed eggs is a critical next step in creating food that reflects our deepest values of compassion, responsibility, and a belief that better food for pets starts with better treatment of animals."
Evermore is a member of the ASPCA's Pet Food Progress initiative, a coalition of pet food and treat manufacturers committed to supporting higher-welfare farms.
