SUPPLY CHAIN
On its journey from birth, or hatch, to your plate, an animal and its products pass through many stages, sometimes all within the same business, but usually not. We’ve divided this supply chain into 6 general types of businesses:
Restaurants
- this includes all food service entities (eg. airlines, hospitals, tamale vendors…)
Farms/Ranches
- any places where meat, eggs or dairy are produced
Markets/Distributors
- any business selling animal products to the public or to other businesses (eg. retailers, wholesalers, distributors…)
Processors
- any business that processes animal products (eg. cheese or sausage makers, butchers…)
Nurseries/Hatcheries
- a business that births/hatches young animals and raises them for sale or use
Abattoirs
- a business that slaughters animals
Each of these businesses are subjected to their respective market pressures and must strive to remain profitable in competitive industries. Each must make decisions related to efficiency and ethics. Each must take into consideration both short and long term consequences.
Let’s consider each case…