São Paulo, September 26, 2019 – Temple Grandin, one of the world’s leading animal welfare researchers, is visiting Brazil this September as a guest of MSD Saúde Animal. The researcher’s schedule includes a visit to the JBS Campo Grande (MS) plant no. 2, where Temple will have a first-hand view of the Company’s animal handling practices at the local Friboi factory, including a herringbone-style cattle pen based on cattle behavior studies and which makes easier for staff to work with the animals.
During her visit, she will also be speaking to factory employees about the importance of animal handling. Temple developed a technique called “humane handling”, using science-based practices that focus on issues such as animal health, emotions and natural behavior to ensure they achieve the best possible quality of life indices. Her practices have been included in the MSD Saúde Animal goals, part of the Criando Conexões Program, resulting in more positive and productive responses for animals.
Temple Grandin’s visit to the JBS Campo Grande plant will strengthen the Company’s global commitment to animal welfare. Last year, JBS invested R$ 88.2 million improving animal welfare practices across the organization and at all its facilities, which use production techniques and policies based on humane slaughter principles.
JBS employs multidisciplinary teams specialized in each type of protein to manage animal welfare across its business units. These teams are constantly improving and are responsible for ensuring animal welfare policies and procedures rare correctly enforced and followed at all times. Friboi has been monitoring all its facilities on a daily basis since 2014, using security cameras to verify compliance with its animal welfare management system.
Audits and training
In order to guarantee compliance with all of its animal welfare guidelines, in addition to organizing employee and supplier training, the Company also runs frequent internal audits, sets targets and assesses additional investments or adjusts processes so it is continuously improving. For example, over 13.3 thousand JBS employees and producers worldwide went through training in 2018.
In 2019, Friboi also hired two specialized companies to verify best animal handling practices at all its processing plants, and provide training on animal behavior and best handling practices from the time the animals are loaded onto trucks at supplier farms until they reach the slaughterhouse. All in-house and third-party employees and cattle truck drivers received training.
Friboi has its own fleet of cattle trucks which is replaced every three years with more modern vehicles, to better accommodate the animals and reduce the stress they naturally feel during transportation. The new trucks are equipped with a hydraulic lift making it easier, faster and safer to load and unload the animals. The trucks were also designed to generate less noise and guarantee greater ventilation to make the transport process more comfortable for the cattle.
Around 50% of all JBS cattle transportation in Brazil is carried out by our in-house fleet, supported by the Company’s own telemetry, tracking and monitoring system that provides the vehicle’s speed and location along the entire route. This means the Company can monitor drivers’ behavior at the wheel, with information on their acceleration, braking and any brusque maneuvers, and all trucks are equipped with security lockout sensors.
Contribution to the food industry
This past April, the Company unveiled its JBS Global Food Innovation Center at the Colorado State university (CSU), in Colorado, USA, which will perform advanced studies and research in several areas, from animal welfare to handling.
JBS has invested R$ 45.6 million in the project since the partnership was first established in 2017. The Center gives university students the opportunity to apply their learning interactively, particularly in the area Temple Grandin designed for interactive animal welfare studies.
This is the third consecutive year Temple Grandin has visited Brazil. In 2017, JBS was part of the “Na Fazenda com Temple Grandin” (On the Farm with Temple Grandin) event in Pirassununga (SP), where the researcher assessed the performance of a JBS cattle truck. In 2018, Temple visited a Company supplier in Mato Grosso at JBs’s invitation and led an animal welfare workshop for hundreds of people in São Paulo, including producers, industry experts, specialists and academics.
About JBS
JBS is one of the world’s leading food industry companies with approximately 230 thousand employees in 15 countries. The Company owns a portfolio of brands that are acknowledged for their excellence and innovation, including Friboi, Moy Park, Pilgrim’s Pride, Primo, Seara, Swift, Gold’n Plump and others, serving over 275,000 customers of more than 190 nationalities worldwide. The Company’s focus on innovation also reflects its management approach to related businesses in areas such as leather, biodiesel, collagen, personal hygiene and cleaning products, natural wrappings, solid waste management solutions, metal packaging and transportation. JBS has adopted best sustainability practices throughout its value chain and constantly monitors its suppliers using satellite imagery, georeferenced maps of supplier farms and monitors official data from government agencies. The Company also focuses on the highest possible food safety and quality standards. The success of JBS’s operations is closely tied to our Animal welfare practices, which are rigorously applied and have received an increasing share of investments to further improve the Company’s efforts in this area, in line with best practices.
JBS
Corporate Communications Department
+55 11 3144-7997 | 5364 | 4996
imprensa@jbs.com.br