Search | Darden

Caring for Farm Animals

We have a responsibility to ensure that animals are treated with respect and care in the process of providing nutritious food that is served in our restaurants. Our Animal Welfare Policy defines Darden’s position and outlines our approach and commitments to animal welfare.

Our Animal Welfare Policy

Darden takes animal welfare very seriously. A key tenet of our approach is to work with protein suppliers who are committed to the improvement of animal welfare. We expect our suppliers to share our commitment to the ‘Five Freedoms’ of care throughout the life of farm animals and to also provide a valid and verified animal welfare certification.

Freedom from hunger and thirst
Freedom from discomfort
Freedom from pain, injury or disease
Freedom to express normal behavior
Freedom from fear and distress

Our Animal Welfare Policy

Animal Welfare Council

In 2019, we established an Animal Welfare Council, which unites a cross-functional group of academics and thought leaders in the care of animals in food supply chains. This group is responsible for continued efforts to improve animal welfare outcomes and, most recently, mapped out a framework and process for working with chicken suppliers on key welfare areas, including medically important antibiotic usage.

Independent Advisors

Dr. Lily Edwards-Callaway

Assistant Professor of Animal Sciences

Colorado State University

Dr. Leonie Jacobs

Assistant Professor, Animal Welfare & Behavior

Virginia Tech

Dr. Janice Swanson

Professor Emeritus

Michigan State University

Consulting Advisors

Dr. Sara Crawford

Sustainable Environmental Consultants, Inc.

Mr. Øistein Thorsen

FAI Farms

Our Commitments to Animal Welfare

Animal Welfare Improved Animal Welfare Outcomes

Improved Animal Welfare Outcomes: Our goal is that Darden’s suppliers will contribute to measurable improvements in animal welfare outcomes. Darden is working with our suppliers and industry peers, in conjunction with our Animal Welfare Advisory Council, to define and analyze these metrics.

Poultry: In partnership with our poultry suppliers, we are working to drive improvements in poultry processing that result in healthy biological function, expression of natural behavior and humane processing.

2025 Update: Thanks to the trust and transparency of our suppliers, Darden’s broiler chicken partners provided Key Welfare Indicator (KWI) data to support our assessment and benchmarking, conducted by leading welfare and sustainability experts across farms, during transport and at processing plants. In our first year, we saw encouraging supplier engagement around animal welfare practices, and while we continue to refine how we evaluate and standardize the data, this foundational work represents a strong start to our long-term commitment.

Pork: Darden continues to work to increase the amount of pork it purchases from suppliers that utilize group housing for pregnant sows, as defined by the American Association of Swine Veterinarians (AASV), that also meet our culinary specifications, high quality standards and accessible pricing requirements.

2025 Update: In fiscal 2025, approximately 56% of pork volume purchased by Darden was from suppliers with group housing for sows, based on a mass balance approach and input from our suppliers. For several of our pork products, Darden specifications require group housing.

Eggs: Darden's goal is source 100% cage-free egg products for our owned and operated restaurants. Our international franchisees are working to source only cage-free eggs by the end of 2027.

2025 Update: Darden’s supply chain partners were impacted by avian influenza, and some eggs purchased in fiscal 2025 were from traditional farms when cage-free supply was not available. Our international franchises are working to source only cage-free eggs by the end of 2027.

Antibiotics: Darden requires its land-based protein suppliers to comply with FDA guidelines and/or all applicable national regulations for antibiotics use. This means that antibiotics that are important in human medicine may not be used with farm animals for growth purposes, and those used by both humans and animals are only used to treat, prevent and control disease in farm animals under the supervision of a veterinarian. Darden supports best practices among farmers to address emerging threats from antimicrobial resistance.

Darden continues to assess industry best practices in addressing antibiotic stewardship and risks associated with antimicrobial resistance. We have found that well-managed farms and plants are key to enabling positive outcomes for animals.

In fiscal 2025, Darden surveyed all vertically integrated broiler chicken suppliers on the use of medically important antibiotics. Supplier responses indicated that all suppliers had policies in compliance with FDA guidelines and most were also aligned with WHO guidelines.

Darden Restaurants Helps Feeding America® Add Mobile Food Pantries

January 27, 2021

As part of the company’s ongoing efforts to fight hunger, Darden Restaurants has partnered with Feeding America® to enhance mobile food pantry programs in areas with higher levels of food insecurity, including communities of color. Through a $500,000 grant from the Darden Restaurants, Inc. Foundation and additional support from Darden’s partners, Penske Truck Leasing and Lineage Logistics, five Feeding America food banks will each receive a 26-foot refrigerated box truck to help increase access to nutritious food and address transportation needs.

Spotlight comminity “As a restaurant company, we are uniquely positioned to make a meaningful difference in the fight against hunger, and we are proud to partner with Feeding America to make a positive impact in communities where it is needed most,” said Gene Lee, Chairman and CEO of Darden. “Mobile food pantries are an important tool to help food banks meet the increased need caused by the pandemic. These vehicles will help Feeding America food banks in five different states directly distribute a large supply of foodin their communities for years to come.”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Feeding America projects that one in six people could experience food insecurity, and people of color are even more likely to face hunger. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, when compared to white households, black households are 2.4 times more likely to be food insecure, and Hispanic households are two times more likely.

“Hunger in America is a devastating reality for millions of our neighbors. The pandemic has created an increased need for food assistance and caused major disruptions for charitable food distribution,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Chief Executive Officer for Feeding America. “Mobile food pantries are a critical solution to addressing both concerns. These refrigerated vehicles will remove significant barriers to getting food to vulnerable populations in five different communities. We are grateful to Darden, Penske and Lineage for making this possible.”

Feeding America helped identify food banks serving communities of color with disproportionately high levels of food insecurity and the need to increase their mobile food pantry capacity to serve neighbors facing hunger. Food banks receiving this gift include:

Feeding the Valley Food Bank in Midland, Ga.
Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana in Shreveport, La.
Mid-South Food Bank in Memphis, Tenn.
San Antonio Food Bank in San Antonio, Texas
Second Harvest of Central Florida in Orlando, Fla.

Darden and the Darden Foundation have a long-standing commitment to help fight hunger and have been partners with Feeding America for more than 10 years. Since 2018, the Darden Foundation has provided $6.5 million to support member food banks across all 50 states.

These efforts go hand-in-hand with Darden’s Harvest program. Each day, every Darden restaurant collects surplus, wholesome food that is not served to guests and prepares it for donation to local nonprofit partners. Since its inception, more than 120 million pounds of food — totaling more than 100 million meals — have been donated through the Harvest program.

Where We Serve

Our definition of service extends beyond the four walls of our restaurants. With more than 2,000 restaurants across all 50 states, we’re making an impact in the communities we serve.

/

Restaurants

Team Members

New Restaurants

Jobs Created by New Restaurant(s)

Pounds of Food Donated

Meals Equivalent

Vendor Management Portal

The Darden Vendor Management Portal enables you to manage key company information online while providing 24/7 access to invoice and payment information, including accelerated payment options. You must be registered in the Vendor Management Portal in order to receive an invitation to Coupa to begin submitting invoices electronically.

Existing Darden Suppliers

If you have not yet received credentials for the Darden Vendor Management Portal, please submit a request for access.

Please Note: Only one point of contact can be given credentials to maintain your Company information in the portal.

If you already have credentials to the Vendor Management Portal and need an invitation to Coupa, you can log in to the portal at https://darden.apexportal.net to add a Coupa Contact. Once we have your Coupa contact information we can send you an email to register in Coupa.

New Suppliers

If this is your first time doing business with Darden, you need to register in our Vendor Management Portal and in Coupa. To begin this process, submit your first invoice directly to the restaurant where you provided services or products and include the contact name and email for the person who will be responsible for entering your vendor information.

The restaurant manager will manually process your invoice and notify us to send you an invitation to the Vendor Management Portal. Once your registration has been completed and approved, you will receive another email letting you know how to register in Coupa.

Vendor Management Tutorial

Restaurant Supplier Resources

Invoice Against a Purchase Order

Invoicing against a purchase order is quite simple and is the preferred method for submitting non-food invoices to Darden. Please ensure to submit invoices via Coupa for all non-food purchases.

Follow the instructions below to invoice against a purchase order.

Via Email:

To begin creating an invoice, select the blue “Create Invoice” button.

Note: Acknowledge PO simply notifies your Darden contact that you have seen/received the Purchase Order.

You will be asked to register for E-invoicing and create a Remit-To if you have not already.

Via Coupa:

Go to the Coupa Supplier Portal (CSP) and Login
Click on Orders tab to view Purchase Orders (PO)
Find the PO you need to invoice against and select the stack of gold coins icon on the right OR select PO
The Create Invoice page will appear

Please review the following video to learn more about the process on how to invoice against a Purchase Order.

General Info and Form Fields:

Fill out the fields — those marked with the red asterisk (*) are required fields
Attach the PDF Invoice

Notes

The Invoice number in Coupa must be unique and match the invoice number in your PDF attachment
If the Invoice From Address, Remit-To Address, or Ship From Address does not appear, select the magnifying glass icon to locate respective addresses. If there is nothing to select, you have not completed the E-invoicing setup
If there are multiple invoices for a purchase order, they must be submitted separately

Edit Purchase Order Lines:

If you need to delete a purchase order line or you are invoicing against a purchase order with multiple lines, please click the red X next to the line you want to delete (next by the line total amount).

Example:

A purchase order was created for an entire year by months and you are invoicing only for March, you will have to delete the other 11 lines to submit the invoice correctly.

Select SUBMIT once complete.

Credit Memos

Go to Invoices Tab then scroll to bottom until you see the “Credit Note” button
Select that button and a screen will appear giving you the option to “Resolve issue for invoice number” with a dropdown of all applicable invoices
Once you have selected the invoice to apply the credit note to, you will need to select whether the credit note is for the full or partial amount of the invoice
Coupa will redirect you to the Credit Notes page where you will need to enter the Credit Note number. If you have a PDF associated with the credit note, please attach it
Select submit, confirm information, then select Send

Coupa Supplier Portal Purchase Orders

Darden Supplier Resources

Online Terms and Policies

Darden Corporation’s and its affiliates’ (“Darden”) obligations under this purchase order (“PO”), including Darden’s payment obligations, are subject to the current general terms and conditions, Security Policy and Privacy Policy, unless there is a written agreement between you and Darden for the purchase of products and/or services (“Existing Agreement”), then the terms and conditions of such Existing Agreement shall apply.

Supplier General Terms and Conditions

Coupa Portal Vendor Access Agreement

Services Agreement

Darden Supplier Resources

Vendor Management Portal

The Vendor Management Portal enables you to manage key company information online while providing 24/7 access to invoice and payment information.

You must be registered in the Darden Vendor Management Portal in order for Darden to issue purchase orders or make payments against invoices.

Existing Darden Suppliers

If you have not yet received credentials for the Darden Vendor Management Portal, please submit a request for access.

Please Note:

Only one point of contact can be given credentials to maintain your Company information in the portal.

If you already have credentials, you can log in to the portal at https://darden.apexportal.net.

New Suppliers

If this is your first time doing business with Darden, please reach out to your Darden contact to get set up in our systems.

Darden Supplier Resources

Submit a Blank Invoice

On this page we will review how to create a "blank invoice" for purchases made by Darden. Blank Invoices should be submitted only in cases when you do not receive a Purchase Order from Darden.

Select the “Invoices” tab from the top of the page and click on the “Create Blank Invoice” button
Enter the Invoice Number and Invoice Date
Upload attachments (scanned or PDF copy of the invoice or other documentation that could be used for backup)
The “Bill From” section will automatically populate based on the addresses you established in your Coupa profile
The “Bill To” address must be set to the Darden location (only one option available)
Very Important: In the Restaurant or Corporate Department field you will need to enter the correct Darden Restaurant or Corporate Department that you are doing business with.
1. This field will direct your invoice to the appropriate contact in that corporate department or restaurant location
2. It is crucial that you enter this field correctly to be reimbursed in a timely manner
3. We highly encourage you to ask your Darden business partner who should be listed on the invoice to ensure proper routing. Failure to send the invoice to the right location could cause delays
  1. For Restaurants, type the address, zip code or restaurant number to identify the restaurant you are looking for. The manager you work with will be able to provide their restaurant number
  2. For Corporate Departments, start typing the department name you are doing business with and select the appropriate department. Notice that all corporate departments start with “Corporate”
Enter item description and amount
Enter Supplier Part Number — e.g.: SKU #1589_00
Enter Equipment Type, Manufacturer and Serial # for Darden documentation (optional)
Add Shipping and Tax
Add Comments (optional) and Submit

Darden Supplier Resources

Set Up e-Invoicing

When you first view orders, you will be prompted to set-up E-Invoicing. You can select “finish E-Invoicing Setup” or go into your Admin Tab and fill out the required information.

Step 1:

Select “Admin” tab at top of the page.
Select “E-Invoicing Setup.”
Select “Add Legal Entity” button on upper right side of page. Enter the following:
1. Legal Entity Name
2. Country

Step 2:

You will only need to fill out fields with the red asterisk * and your Tax ID.

Note: If you do not want to use this address for Remit-To then you will uncheck the box and be redirected to another page to create a Remit-To address.

Step 3:

You will be redirected to a page to add in your Remit-To address.

Here you will need to fill out the fields that are only marked with the red asterisk.

Once the information is filled in, click “Save & Continue.”

Step 4:

Review the Ship From address.
If everything is correct, click “Next.”
If you need to edit anything, click “Manage.”
Once you get to this page, click on "Go to Orders."

Darden Supplier Resources

Submit a Blank Invoice

On this page we will review how to create a "blank invoice" for purchases made by Darden since restaurant managers will not create purchase orders.

Select the “Invoices” tab from the top of the page and click on the “Create Blank Invoice” button
Enter the Invoice Number and Invoice Date
Upload scanned or PDF copy of the invoice or other documentation that could be used for backup using the Image Scan option
The “Bill From” section will automatically populate based on the addresses you established in your Coupa profile
The “Bill To” address must be set to the Darden location (only one option available)
Very Important: In the Restaurant or Corporate Department field you will need to enter the correct Darden Restaurant that you are doing business with:
1. This field will direct your invoice to the appropriate restaurant location
2. It is crucial that you enter this field correctly to be reimbursed in a timely manner.
3. Failure to send the invoice to the right location could cause delays.
  *Note, if an invoice is disputed because a wrong location is entered, you will not be able to edit the invoice and resubmit. You will need to enter a new invoice to the correct location.
  1. Type the restaurant address, zip code or restaurant number to identify the restaurant you are looking for. The manager you work with will be able to provide their restaurant number
Enter item description and amount
Enter Supplier Part Number — e.g.: SKU #1589_00
Enter Equipment Type, Manufacturer and Serial # for Darden documentation (optional)
Add Shipping and Tax
Add Comments (optional) and Submit

Caring for Farm Animals

Our Animal Welfare Policy

Animal Welfare Council

Dr. Lily Edwards-Callaway

Dr. Leonie Jacobs

Dr. Janice Swanson

Dr. Sara Crawford

Mr. Øistein Thorsen

Our Commitments to Animal Welfare

Darden Restaurants Helps Feeding America® Add Mobile Food Pantries

Where We Serve

/

Restaurants

Team Members

New Restaurants

Jobs Created by New Restaurant(s)

Pounds of Food Donated

Meals Equivalent

Vendor Management Portal

Existing Darden Suppliers

New Suppliers

Vendor Management Tutorial

Restaurant Supplier Resources

Invoice Against a Purchase Order

Via Email:

Via Coupa:

General Info and Form Fields:

Notes

Edit Purchase Order Lines:

Example:

Select SUBMIT once complete.

Credit Memos

Coupa Supplier Portal Purchase Orders

Darden Supplier Resources

Online Terms and Policies

Darden Supplier Resources

Vendor Management Portal

Existing Darden Suppliers

Please Note:

New Suppliers

Darden Supplier Resources

Submit a Blank Invoice

Darden Supplier Resources

Set Up e-invoicing

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

Darden Supplier Resources

Submit a Blank Invoice

Restaurant Supplier Resources