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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK
Victory For Animal Rights Activists: Whole Foods to Adopt Stricter Guidelines
Aired October 21, 2003 - 06:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time now, though, for a little 'Business Buzz.' Animal rights activists have a new place to shop, thanks to stronger standards at one major chain.
Carrie Lee is live at the Nasdaq market site in Times Square.
Which store -- Carrie?
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We're talking about Whole Foods, Carol, of course the high end natural foods grocery store chain. By the end of 2004, they plan to put some new procedures in place that will adopt humane animal treatment standards. Now this is according to "USA Today" at this point.
This comes after two years of very intense pressure from two animal rights groups, the Vegetarian International Voice for Animals and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Those two groups have been previously persuading fast food companies like McDonald's and Burger King to improve their standards.
Well now Whole Foods' CEO says they didn't feel pressured by these two groups, necessarily, to put these changes in place. But they decided that the groups were basically right in their claims and standards and so they are going to start putting these changes in place, as I said, by the end of 2004.
Meanwhile, this decision gives these two animal rights groups added leverage to continue pushing Safeway and Kroger on animal welfare standards, Carol, something that a lot of people are becoming increasingly aware of these days.
COSTELLO: Yes, you know I understand, and it is just kind of ironic to say they treat animals better before slaughtering them.
LEE: That's part of this. They are going to give ducks better treatment before their slaughtering. And this means that prices may go up a little bit for meat at Whole Foods, but they say they are going to clearly explain why. Prices are pretty expensive there anyway, so what's a little more money, I guess, if animals are treated better.
COSTELLO: You pay five bucks for one tomato there -- Carrie.
LEE: Exactly. Exactly.
COSTELLO: Quick look at the futures. LEE: Yes, things look pretty strong this morning. Looks like we could see a higher open. Looks like Texas Instruments is part of the reason. The chip giant out with profits and sales last night that beat Wall Street estimates for the recent quarter. In fact, the stock was up about 7 percent in the after-hours market -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Carrie Lee reporting live from the Nasdaq market site this morning.
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