Who Supplies Culver's Chicken?

Culver's, the Midwest-born fast food chain founded over 40 years ago, is perhaps best loved for its trademarked ButterBurger, made-from-scratch frozen custard, or delicious Wisconsin-sourced famous fried cheese curds. But even so, its menu has plenty to offer chicken lovers — from fried tenders tossed in buffalo spices to the lighter grilled chicken sandwich. While reviews of Culver's chicken recipes can be mixed, the chain has made a commitment to starting its chicken dishes with quality raw meat. Since 2011, Culver's has partnered with Georgia-based Springer Mountain Farms for all of its chicken needs.

Springer Mountain Farms, a subsidiary of Fieldale Farms, procures its chickens from family-run farms in Georgia's Blue Ridge Mountains region. In 2001, it became the first poultry producer in the world to be American Humane Certified, and it adheres to high standards of animal welfare in its farmers' raising practices. Although chickens are raised indoors in commercial poultry houses, Culver's claims the birds' protected living conditions and home-grown vegetarian diet result in better-tasting meat. That sourcing is among the reasons we ranked Culver's fried chicken sandwich number one on our list of fast food restaurants that serve the highest quality chicken sandwiches.

Culver's decision to source exclusively from Springer Mountain Farms coincided with a company-wide promise to serve chicken fed a vegetarian diet and raised without antibiotics. Other chain restaurants, such as Chipotle and Shake Shack, have made similar vows in recent years. And while the vegetarian diet sounds like a marker of healthier poultry, the label is narrower than its wholesome image suggests. Chickens are natural omnivores, and a bird allowed to forage in the wild would eat insects, worms, and other animal protein, along with plants and seeds. Conventional chicken meal typically contains scraps and trimmings leftover from the processing of livestock, from bone meal to chicken skin. But in commercial production, like that of Springer Mountain Farms, vegetarian-fed merely means the chickens' feed contains no animal byproducts. 

Vegetarian-fed chicken is good for consumers who are uncomfortable with the idea of chickens being fed the remains of other animals, but it doesn't carry any promises about the chickens' overall living conditions. For assurance that chickens were given the opportunity to roam outside, we recommend looking for the "pasture-raised" label. At Springer Mountain farms, vegetarian-raised chickens are fed a meal of soybean and corn, supplemented with vitamins necessary for chickens' nutrition. In Culver's case, assurances about the chickens' treatment come from Springer Mountain Farms' separate American Humane Certification — not its vegetarian-feed claim.