Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest leisure travel company today announced it will shift purchasing policies across its nine leading cruise line brands by 2024 to improve the welfare of sourced chicken, becoming one of the first companies in the travel industry to commit to adopting comprehensive broiler chicken welfare policies.

Working with animal protection organizations, including the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and The Humane League, Carnival Corporation is committed to aligning welfare standards for broiler chicken, ensuring that 100 percent of chicken sourced will be certified by the Global Animal Partnership (GAP).

“Carnival Corporation and our brands recognize animal welfare is an important issue for our guests and the general public, as well as us, and by teaming up with leading organizations that have made this commitment to responsible sourcing, we are optimistic that this will help advance broader adoption of these conscientious practices,” said Julia Brown, chief procurement officer for Carnival Corporation. “With this latest initiative, we will expand on our responsible sourcing efforts across the corporation by working closely with our suppliers to assure that the broiler chickens we purchase are treated humanely, under appropriate animal welfare standards.”

By 2024, Carnival Corporation will require sourced chicken to be GAP-certified and produced under standards that require all chickens to be given more space and enhanced environments – including litter and lighting. Additionally, these new policies will ensure that Carnival Corporation’s chicken suppliers process their products in a humane manner through a multi-step controlled-atmosphere system and demonstrate compliance with these standards.

“Carnival Corporation has continued to uphold their position as a leader in the industry on many fronts, including animal welfare,” said Joyana Hunt, corporate policy specialist for HSUS. “We applaud the company’s commitment to broiler chicken welfare.”

This broiler chicken purchasing commitment is the latest stride in Carnival Corporation’s continued dedication to addressing animal welfare in its supply chain. In 2015, working with the Humane Society of the United States, Carnival Corporation committed to switching to 100 percent cage-free eggs across all its brands by 2025.