Campbell’s says that its soup is made with real meat — not “3-D printed chicken” — and said it has fired an executive who allegedly made the explosive claims in a bombshell recording that trashed the company’s products and customers.
Campbell’s veep Martin Bally was caught describing the soup as “bioengineered meat” and saying, “I don’t wanna eat a piece of chicken that came from a 3-D printer,” according to a suit a former employee filed last week in Michigan.
Campbell’s said the remarks were untrue and that the executive was no longer at the company on Tuesday.
“The comments heard on the recording about our food are not only inaccurate, they are patently absurd,” the 155 year-old company stated on its website. “We do not use lab-grown chicken or any form of artificial or bioengineered meat in our soups.”
Campbell’s shares closed down 3% on Monday and another 0.6% on Tuesday. Year to date, its shares are down nearly 28%, trading around $30 as of Wednesday morning.
The Campbell’s website now includes some unusual FAQs like: “Is Campbell’s chicken 3-D printed?”
“No. We do not use 3D-printed chicken, lab-grown chicken, or any form of artificial or bioengineered meat in our soups,” the company states.
Chicken from a 3-D printer is not entirely a sci-fi fantasy.
KFC said in 2020 it was working with a Russian company called 3D Bioprinting Solutions on developing tech to “print” chicken meat from chicken cells and plant matter, the Verge noted.
Bally’s alleged comments surfaced as part of a lawsuit against Campbell’s from ex-employee Robert Garza – who recorded the exec dissing the chicken, describing Indian co-workers as “idiots” and saying he sometimes shows up to work high.
“Even in a can of soup, I look at it — and look at bioengineered meat,” Bally, vice president of information security, allegedly said on the recording.
Campbell’s said it placed him on temporary leave and is investigating the matter.
“If the comments heard on the audio recording were in fact made by Mr. Bally, they are unacceptable. Such language does not reflect our values and the culture of our company. We do not tolerate that kind of language under any circumstances,” Campbell’s said.
“Keep in mind, the alleged comments heard on the audio were made by a person in IT who has nothing to do with how we make our food,” the company added.
Garza, a former cybersecurity analyst from Monroe, Mich., said he instinctively hit record when he sat down with Bally for what was supposed to be a routine salary meeting late last year.
The plaintiff claimed he was fired Jan. 30 in retaliation for reporting discriminatory and harassing conduct after just a few months on the job.
Along with the comments about prefab poultry, Bally allegedly raved that his employer’s “highly processed food” was meant for “poor people.”
“We have s–t for f–king poor people. Who buys our s–t? I don’t buy Campbell’s products barely anymore,” the exec said, according to the over 75-minute recording.
He also allegedly lashed out at Indian workers, saying: “F–king Indians don’t know a f–king thing.”
Campbell’s rejected such remarks, saying in a statement: “We are proud of the food we make, the people who make it and the high-quality ingredients we use to provide consumers with good food at a good value.”
The Campbell’s FAQs say the company uses “bioengineered food ingredients” from “genetically modified crops” including canola, corn, soybean and sugar beets, noting such items appear on its labels.
“This language on our label refers to ingredients derived from those crops, not chicken,” the company stated.
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