Food justice group ends boycott of Amy's Kitchen

Amy's executives, employees, and the Food Empowerment Project came to a recent agreement, after improved working conditions and communication.

photo credit: Alejandra Tolley/Food Empowerment Project
Workers and advocates gathered for a press conference outside
an Amy's Kitchen facility.

A squabble between food justice advocates and prepared healthy food purveyor Amy’s Kitchen has reached a peaceful end.

The chances are this food fight has flown under your radar, but after nearly two and a half years, the Food Empowerment Project is ending its boycott of Amy’s Kitchen, said Alejandra Tolley.

"It was hard for us because we do love Amy’s Kitchen," Tolley said.

A food justice organization, the Food Empowerment Project, F.E.P., advocates for fair working conditions, ethical sourcing and labor practices, veganism, and animal rights.

Tolley said the Amy’s Kitchen boycott left them in an awkward spot given Amy’s standing as a major vegetarian and vegan food company.

"So it was really hard for us to boycott because we do enjoy their foods a lot," Tolley said. "But we also need to make sure that we're holding these companies to a higher standard."

Tolley said concerns voiced by employees at Amy’s Santa Rosa facility drove their campaign.

"We met with the Santa Rosa workers in February of 2022, and they stated that their demands were better wages, reliable healthcare, and improved workplace health and safety," Tolley said.

Now, after eight months of talks between Amy’s employees, F.E.P. representatives, and Amy’s Kitchen executives, Tolley said the boycott is done.

"This is a worker led effort and we did not call off the boycott the workers did 'cause the workers felt like their demands were met," Tolley said. "We are gonna check in back with Amy's Kitchen to make sure that these changes are still in place in a year."

Amy’s Kitchen is also celebrating the boycott’s end .

Amy’s President Paul Schiefer said the company is “pleased with the learnings and progress” made during the talks

He said the discussions with workers and the Food Empowerment Project has helped the company understand how to better communicate and meet the needs of Amy’s workers.

Tolley sees the boycott’s end as a win.

"We're really grateful that Amy's Kitchen is starting to listen to their workers," Tolley said. "And we're also glad that the workers feel heard and supported by their community."

Tolley said workers noted increased health and safety precautions over the past two years; and she said Amy’s has agreed to three percent merit increases, better communication about healthcare benefits, acknowledging the employees affected by abrupt layoffs at Amy’s San Jose factory in 2022, and to forego the use of labor relations consultants.