The Center for Responsible Food Business calls for new leadership at Ahold Delhaize USA amid animal welfare commitment delays, scandal mismanagement, and worker concerns.

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from the Center for Responsible Food Business details systemic concerns regarding Ahold Delhaize USA (AD USA), the parent company of Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Company, Hannaford, and Stop & Shop. Based on this analysis, the organization is calling for the termination of AD USA's CEO, JJ Fleeman.

The Center began reviewing AD USA's policies, governance, and operations after the company announced it would not meet longstanding animal-welfare commitments, including a phase-out of inhumane battery cage eggs.

An analysis of the company's recent history, as well as findings from a 2024-2025 survey of AD USA employees, illustrate further systemic mismanagement and severe digressions from the standards upheld by AD USA's Netherlands-based parent company.

Key findings:

• Greenwashing: AD USA has delayed key animal welfare policies by an additional seven years, following nearly a decade of inaction and mounting stakeholder concern.
• Worker and store operations: Survey respondents reported serious concerns regarding pay and staffing levels, supervisory conduct, and store-level safety practices.
• Governance and reputation: CRFB finds that these problems, along with a clear pattern of poorly managed scandals –– labor issues, data breaches, and discrimination claims, among others –– present governance, compliance, and reputational risks for the U.S. business.

In its European markets, Ahold Delhaize has implemented some of the most progressive social responsibility, sustainability, and animal welfare measures in global retail. By contrast, AD USA has made no such progress, and the company's recent history has been marked by major regressions on key ESG issues.

"The company's U.S. leadership is out of step with the global standards Ahold Delhaize upholds elsewhere," said Taylor Warren, President of the Center for Responsible Food Business. "The board should install leadership that puts workers, customers, and sustainable and humane sourcing first."

Methodology

In Q1 and Q2 of 2025, the Center ran LinkedIn ads inviting employees of Ahold Delhaize USA and its banners to complete an optionally anonymous survey about workplace conditions. The Center aggregated themes and included anonymized testimonies. While efforts were made to ascertain the factual accuracy of employee statements, the testimony collected is based on personal experiences and recollections which may not be readily verifiable. No confidential or proprietary information was knowingly disclosed, and the report is for informational and advocacy purposes only. See the report for additional details.

Read the full report
View and download Inside Fleeman's Failures

Media Contact
James Grant: James@responsiblefoodbusiness.org

About the Center for Responsible Food Business
The Center for Responsible Food Business is a nonprofit dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility to build a better food system. Through industry engagement, research, and consumer education efforts, the Center works to advance practices that benefit all stakeholders from the farm to the dinner table.

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SOURCE Center for Responsible Food Business