Dine Brands

Dine Brand's release its new policy in August 2019 and is publicly available online on its website as part of its Broader Animal Welfare Policy.

The policy covers chicken and pork only, despite sourcing other species.

Dine Brand's policy is US-only. However, the U.S. represents the single most important market for the company by generating 97% of total revenue.

The company states that they "are asking our chicken and pork suppliers to begin to prohibit routine use of medically important antibiotics as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), including prohibiting the use of these antibiotics for disease prevention". Their statement goes beyond FDA compliance.

The company does not yet have any specific targets or timelines in place for implementation as it is currently in the development and data collection stage with their suppliers and in conjunction with a third-party consultant.

The company does not yet disclose data on antibiotics usage, however the company has stated that they are developing the right standards and questions for their suppliers alongside a third-party consultant. No indication on what sort of metrics the company is developing and what level of data the company will publicly report on.

The company has committed to "annual third-party auditing and are asking our chicken and pork suppliers to track and report to us their antibiotic use for meat supplied to us. Approved 3rd Party Poultry audit standards include approved USDA Processed Verified Programs".

Dine Brands responded to the investor letter with clear, insightful answers to all questions. The company met with the investor coalition. However, their responses to questions lacked detail and the meeting was unexpectedly cut short. Their response is available here.