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Applegate is on a mission: Changing The Meat We Eat®

A field full of different colored cows roaming and grazing with a cloudy sky in the background.

That means developing a holistic system that connects the health of humans, animals, and the planet. Here's how:

Human Health

In the U.S. about 70 percent of antibiotics go to animals, not people. Since our founding, we have worked hard to raise awareness about the wider misuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture, which can lead to antibiotic resistant "superbugs."

Learn more about applegate no antibiotics ever »

A man and a child on a farm looking at a chicken next to a barn.
Hands holding an Applegate package of The Great Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dog.

Clean Ingredients

Applegate is equally committed to producing food that fits your lifestyle and budget, as it is to using only with clean ingredients. That means you won't find artificial flavors or colors, genetically modified additives, hydrogenated fats, MSG or 700 other ingredients that we don't deem up to snuff. We also limit the Big Nine allergens, and if they are present, we label them. Our goal is worry-free foods for whoever is at the table.

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Animal Welfare

Our company was founded by a conflicted vegetarian. Someone who would only eat meat if he could enjoy it–without that sinking feeling that the animals had been poorly treated. This remains our guiding light. To this day, we ensure that animals raised for food deserve to be handled with care and respect. We call our standards: Applegate Humanely Raised.

Learn more about animal welfare »

A pig running in a field next to a forest.
Hands cupping some dirt with more dirt and grass in the background.

Environmental Sustainability

Many people see meat as an environmental villain. But meat from animals raised with care can actually promote environmental sustainability. To that end, Applegate is focused on expanding organic production and farming based on regenerative agricultural principles. We're steadily increasing the number of partners who raise organic and humanely raised pork, beef and poultry—and we're supporting fraud-prevention programs and efforts to strengthen organic standards, especially around animal welfare. We are working with our grass-fed cattle ranchers to scale regenerative practices and measure the positive impacts that animals can have on the land.

Learn more about environment sustainability »

Our Impact

In 2024, Applegate published its first mission report. It highlights our corporate journey, from a little startup with a crazy dream to change the food system to the country’s leading natural and organic meat company with the same determination to make things better. And because we believe in accountability we have, wherever possible, tried to quantify our impact and chart a clear path forward. We hope you will join us.

Learn more about our impact »

A cow in a field of tall grass against a blue sky background. Photography courtesy of SunFed Ranch.