UK: Increasing pressure on retailers to commit to higher welfare for chickens

All of M&S’ indoor fresh chicken offer is 100% compliant with the Better Chicken Commitment under the ‘Oakham Gold’ label. Photo: Canva

Animal Welfare charity Compassion in World Farming has created a Spotlight table comparing UK retailers’ policies on indoor-reared fresh chicken against the Better Chicken Commitment.

The group argues that despite the sudden flurry of activity amongst UK retailers to commit to reducing stocking density for broiler chickens to 30kg/sqm, M&S and Waitrose remain the only supermarkets to have signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC).

The new Spotlight table helps consumers by revealing how retailers’ broiler chicken policies measure up against the welfare criteria of the BCC: the use of slower-growing breeds; providing more space, natural light, perches and pecking substrates, and; more humane slaughter methods.

Fast-growing breeds

One of the most important requirements of the BCC is moving to slower-growing breeds. These birds have been shown to have better welfare outcomes and lead healthier, happier lives, yet of the 1.15 billion chickens reared for meat in the UK in 2020, around 90% of them were fast-growing breeds. If a slower-growing breed is not adopted, then the welfare benefit of providing more space and perches, for example, doesn’t deliver the same welfare impact, as these chickens are trapped in the physiological cages of oversized bodies, are lethargic and inactive, and often struggle to stand or walk.

Guiding consumer choices

Given that 72% of UK adults believe consumers should know if the chicken had a healthy life, according to a recent survey, the Spotlight table provides information on any BCC-compliant ranges offered by the supermarkets to guide consumer choices. The retailer might also offer higher welfare free-range or organic options, but these do not form part of the Spotlight table.

Compassion has actively engaged with retailers for many years to support them on their broiler welfare journey and encourages full transparency on their commitments and progress to compliance with the aid of its annual ChickenTrack report. Below is a summary of conclusions on broiler welfare for the different retailers as shown in the Spotlight table:

The vast majority of UK retailers have yet to sign up to the BCC. M&S and Waitrose are the only two retailers to have made the pledge for all their fresh, processed and ingredient own-label chicken.
All of M&S’ indoor fresh chicken offer is 100% compliant with the BCC (under the ‘Oakham Gold’ label). Waitrose will start its breed transition from January 2025 and be fully compliant by 2026.
Lidl, Tesco and Sainsbury’s offer limited volumes of BCC-compliant products.
Amazon Fresh and Iceland have no public position on the BCC criteria or broiler welfare standards in their corporate policies.
According to their corporate policies, Co-op, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose already ensure lower stocking densities (30 kg/sqm), while ALDI, Lidl, Morrisons and Tesco have committed to give their birds more space, aligning with the BCC criterion.
The vast majority of retailers (10 out of 12) have not committed to adopting slower-growing breeds, which is essential to truly deliver the welfare benefits expected by their customers.
Most retailers (10 out of 12) state that they provide environmental enrichment to stimulate the natural behaviours of broiler chickens, i.e., they provide at least 2 metres of usable perch space and 2 pecking substrates per 1,000 birds in line with BCC standards. However, 4 retailers comply with this criterion through reliance on a farm assurance scheme, rather than embedding it in their own corporate policies.
More than half of UK retailers’ policies (8 out of 12) state that they provide natural light and adopt humane methods of slaughter (i.e., controlled atmospheric stunning using inert gas or multi-phase systems, or effective electrical stunning without live inversion).

“More needs to be done”

Dr Tracey Jones, global director of Food Business, Compassion in World Farming said: “The Food Business team at Compassion actively engages with all UK retailers on the development of their broiler chicken welfare policies and improvement of their public reporting. The new Spotlight table provides a clear, at-a-glance view of each retailer’s current position.

“It shows more needs to be done across the industry to improve the welfare outcomes of UK broiler chickens, such as moving to slower-growing breeds. Whilst recent moves in the UK sector to lower stocking density are a positive step forward, when combined with natural light and enrichments, the full welfare benefit will only be experienced when the breed is changed.

“We strongly urge retailers to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment and implement the whole package of criteria to truly offer their customers higher welfare chicken. They should ensure their public-facing policies accurately reflect the products currently available on their shelves, creating transparency throughout the whole supply chain – from producer to consumer. Such transparency is essential for empowering shoppers to make informed and ethical choices.”