Sean Gifford
Around 300 million chickens raised to Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) standards will experience one third the severe pain of conventional birds.
The 2022 State of the Chicken Industry report reveals a 38% increase in UK and EU companies committed to the BCC since the end of last year, yet most of the UK's major supermarkets are still dragging their feet on chicken welfare.
This means roughly 300 million chickens a year will lead dramatically better lives thanks to current commitments to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC). But if the outstanding supermarkets including Morrisons, Tesco, and Co-op signed onto the policy, this number would shoot up to 89% - or roughly 938 million chickens per year.
Over 330 companies in the restaurant, food service and manufacturing sectors have signed onto the BCC, a welfare policy banning the use of cruel fast-growing breeds, providing more space, natural light and enrichment. These include KFC, Greggs, Nando’s, Kraft-Heinz, Compass Group and Nestlé, the largest food company in the world. In June 2022 Starbucks UK became the latest major brand to sign onto the BCC.
At present UK supermarkets, with the exception of Waitrose and M&S, are refusing the opportunity to spare the hundreds of millions of chickens under their care prolonged and severe pain.
‘Severe pain’ includes disabling and excruciating pain, those defined by the Welfare Footprint Project as pain which makes life not worth living.
Although many supermarkets sell lines of BCC-compliant chicken, these make up a very small proportion of their sales compared to fast-growing ‘Frankenchickens’ who suffer from painful health conditions like lameness, hock burns and ascites.
The BCC is the future. The last year has seen more household names commit and Defra endorse the policy. Yet still, hundreds of millions of chickens are enduring gruelling hours and days worth of pain when an alternative exists. Supermarkets have the power and the money to stop this - why do they continue to serve their customers unnecessary cruelty?
The report also calls for the chicken industry to adapt to challenges by adopting a “less meat, better meat” approach, as well as highlighting BCC success stories across Europe, where many supermarkets have already signed up.
It calls on supermarkets and governments to do more to make high welfare options accessible to the public during a cost-of-living crisis. BCC signatories Greggs and Waitrose both contributed to the report.
“Customers expect high standards and we have proved we can offer good value for money while treating farmers and animals fairly. This isn't just the case for our more premium products but across all our fresh, frozen and ingredient chicken.”
- Jake Pickering, Waitrose Senior Agriculture Manager
In recent months activists from The Humane League UK have protested against supermarkets Co-op and Morrisons for their continued use of low-welfare fast-growing chickens and a change.org petition calling on supermarkets to stop selling FrankenChickens has gained over 220,000 signatures.
You can read the full State of the Chicken Industry report by clicking the button below.
