Do Good Foodsseemed like it had developed the perfect story to engage with climate-conscious consumers by upcycling leftover grocery store food into poultry diets. But its recent bankruptcy filing left me wondering if chicken consumers are souring on sustainability.
Do Good Chicken is fed a diet made from surplus food from grocery stores. The company even picked up the food waste from retailers themselves, making it easier for grocery stores to reduce their environment impact.
In addition to its carbon reduced chicken, the company also sold carbon reduced eggs.
Do Good Foods boasted that each chicken product prevented four pounds of food waste from being sent to a landfill and avoided the generation of approximately three pounds of greenhouse gases.
The brand seemed primed for growth, promising a reduction in food waste and a more sustainable chicken supply chain. Haven’t we all been hearing that 2023 was the dawn of the climate-conscious consumer, also known as theclimavore?
Despite all this, Do Good Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on June 16. The terms of Chapter 11 allow the company to continue operations while seeking approval of a plan to repay creditors. At this point, only Do Good Foods and the state of Delaware know what the company’s next steps will be.
Cost > sustainability
For whatever it’s worth, I liked Do Good Foods and their upcycling marketing pitch. Consumers want to feel good about the food that they eat and the company did a good job of selling their story.
I have to believe that cost is the real culprit here. Upcycled poultry diets – as appealing as they may be – tend to be more costly. And that’s not even factoring in the prices of roundtrip waste pickup from participating retailers. I’m certain these costs were passed along to the consumer.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen it time and time again, consumers want more – better for the environment, better for welfare, better for health – but they’re not always willing to pay for it.
Consumers still care about sustainability, but the poultry industry will need to focus on economics as well as the environment to succeed.
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