Chili’s Restaurants Parent Company Ditches Crates

Chili’s restaurants parent company Brinker International recently announced that it is pledging to remove gestation crates—confining metal cages that house pregnant sows—from its pork supply chain. The Dallas-based company, which owns and operates more than 1,500 Chili’s Grill & Bar locations, is also extending the new animal-welfare policy to its other restaurants, including Maggiano’s Little Italy and Romano’s Macaroni Grill. While the company has yet to set a deadline for the change, it noted that over the next five to seven years it will make sourcing pork products from vendors who are committed to eliminating the stalls a priority.