Campbell’s cans IT VP after ‘3D-printed chicken’ rant • The Register

Food company Campbell’s, best known for its soups and the iconic cans they come in, has parted ways with a vice president for IT after another member of the company’s tech team recorded him criticizing the company’s products.

This story starts in September 2024 when a chap named Robert Garza, per a court filing [PDF] scored a job as a cyber security analyst at Campbell’s.

The filing asserts that in November 2024, Garza met with Martin Bally – then a veep for IT at the soup maker – to discuss his salary.

It’s alleged that during the meeting, Bally referred to Campbell’s products as for being for “poor people,” and made racist remarks about some workers. Garza alleges that after the meeting he reported the remarks to his manager, but that Campbell’s took no action. He further claims that in January 2025 he suggested raising the matter with Campbell’s HR team, but that his manager again took no action – until a few weeks later Campbell’s fired Garza, a decision for which Bally and the manager were allegedly responsible.

Garza recorded the meeting and later shared an audio file of the encounter with US media. The recording features a male voice using frequent expletives, and saying he would not consume Campbell’s products because they contain “bioengineered meat” and he doesn’t want to “eat chicken that came from a 3D printer.”

Unsurprisingly, the recording went viral and the remark about 3D-printed chicken even caught the attention of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who promised to investigate the claim because local laws ban lab-grown meat.

Also unsurprisingly, Campbell’s went into damage control mode, acknowledging that the voice on the tape sounded like Bally and labeling the remarks “vulgar, offensive and false” and not aligned with the company’s values and culture.

“We will not tolerate that kind of language under any circumstances,” the statement adds, before noting “As of November 25, Mr. Bally is no longer employed by the company.”

The company has since pumped out plenty of posts pointing out that its poulet is proper repast, made of actual chicken from well-run farms.

“Any claims to the contrary are completely false.”

Garza’s wants damages to compensate him for stress, humiliation, economic damage, and “Other damages to be discovered through the course of litigation.” ®