RaiseWell Certified Expands to Chicken, Turkey, Pork and Lamb at Whole Foods Market
Updated: 1 day ago
Whole Foods Market expands its approval of RaiseWell® Certified, giving producers of chicken, turkey, pork and lamb access to third-party verified animal welfare certification.
Consumers are paying closer attention to how their food is raised, and retailers are responding with higher standards for animal care, sourcing and transparency.
That’s why Where Food Comes From (WFCF) is expanding its RaiseWell® Certified program with Whole Foods Market.
Following the successful launch of RaiseWell Certified for beef suppliers earlier this year, Whole Foods Market has now approved the certification for chicken, turkey, pork and lamb.
The expansion brings third-party verification of animal welfare and supply chain practices to more of the farm-raised proteins consumers find at Whole Foods Market.
What Is RaiseWell Certified?
RaiseWell Certified is a third-party animal welfare certification designed to help producers, retailers and consumers verify meaningful practices throughout the animal production lifecycle.
The standard addresses key areas including:
Animal welfare throughout every stage of life
No antibiotics or added hormones ever
Source verification back to the farm or ranch of origin
Supply chain traceability
Verified production practices that support transparent food claims
For producers and retailers, third-party certification provides a way to demonstrate that specific practices are being followed and independently verified.
For consumers, it creates a clearer connection between the claims they see on food packaging and the practices happening on farms and ranches.
Whole Foods Market Expands RaiseWell Across Major Proteins
Whole Foods Market has long placed an emphasis on animal welfare and transparency in its sourcing standards.
With the latest expansion, RaiseWell Certified is now approved for beef, chicken, turkey, pork and lamb, helping producers across these major protein categories access a certification that aligns with Whole Foods Market's animal welfare expectations.
“Whole Foods Market has been a longtime leader on farm animal welfare. Expanding RaiseWell to cover all of our major farm-raised proteins is a natural next step,” said Ann Marie Hourigan, Head of Quality Standards for Whole Foods Market. “It gives our producers access to rigorous animal welfare certification alongside a range of other food claims certifications.”
The expansion also reflects a broader shift in the food industry toward verified claims and greater supply chain transparency.
Rather than relying solely on statements about how food is produced, third-party certification provides an independent process for verifying those practices.
Strong Early Response From Beef Producers
More than 347,000 head of cattle (and growing) are already enrolled in the RaiseWell program.
That early participation demonstrates the potential for a certification program that combines animal welfare requirements with other verified food production claims.
“Whole Foods Market’s expansion of its relationship with RaiseWell underscores the value this new certification offers suppliers and consumers,” said Leann Saunders, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Where Food Comes From.
She added that WFCF's existing portfolio of certification programs can also help producers and brands streamline the verification process.
Combining Animal Welfare With Other Verified Claims
One of the benefits of RaiseWell Certified is its ability to work alongside other WFCF certification programs.
RaiseWell can integrate with CARE Certified®, WFCF's sustainability standard, allowing producers and retailers to verify and communicate practices related to:
Animal care
Environmental stewardship
Social responsibility
Supply chain transparency
Additional attributes, such as pasture-raised and grass-fed, can also be incorporated where applicable.
This approach can help reduce what is sometimes called audit fatigue, where producers must navigate multiple audits and verification processes to substantiate different claims.
By combining certifications and verified attributes into a more streamlined experience, producers can spend less time managing duplicative verification and more time focusing on the practices that matter.
Why Third-Party Verification Matters
Words like “animal welfare,” “responsibly raised” and “sustainable” can mean different things depending on the program behind them.
Third-party certification adds another layer of accountability.
With RaiseWell Certified, production practices are evaluated against defined standards and verified independently. Animals are also source-verified back to the farm or ranch of origin, helping create greater visibility throughout the supply chain.
That traceability matters at a time when consumers increasingly want to know where their food comes from and how it was produced.
For retailers, it can support stronger sourcing programs and consumer education.
For producers, it can create opportunities to demonstrate verified practices and participate in programs designed for premium markets.
And for consumers, it can provide more information behind the claims they see when shopping for food.
Building More Transparency From Farm to Fork
The expansion of RaiseWell Certified represents another step toward a food system where production practices can be more clearly communicated and independently verified.
From the farm or ranch to the retail shelf, every step creates an opportunity for greater transparency.
At Where Food Comes From, our goal is to help make that connection easier.
With RaiseWell Certified now approved across beef, chicken, turkey, pork and lamb at Whole Foods Market, producers have another pathway to demonstrate verified animal welfare practices while retailers can offer consumers clearer information about how their food is raised.
Interested in RaiseWell Certified?
Natural retailers, foodservice operators, farmers, ranchers and producers interested in learning more about RaiseWell Certified can contact Where Food Comes From to learn about program requirements and onboarding.
Learn more about RaiseWell Certified and Where Food Comes From at wherefoodcomesfrom.com/raisewell.
