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In 2017, Compassion in World Farming joined forces with a coalition of NGOs across Europe to launch a unified ask to food companies that would significantly improve the lives of broiler chickens: the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC). By signing up to the BCC, companies pledge to adopt higher welfare standards for broiler chickens throughout their supply chains. This commitment includes the use of slower-growing breeds, providing more living space, natural light, perches and pecking substrates, as well as ensuring more humane slaughter methods.
With just two UK retailers – M&S and Waitrose - having signed up to the BCC, and with most retailers now pledging to reduce stocking densities across their flocks to match that of the 30kg/m2 requirement of the BCC, Compassion has developed a Spotlight table (see below) to illustrate how UK retailers position themselves against all five BCC criteria.
Comprehensive nature of the BCC
The BCC is a comprehensive set of science-based criteria that needs to be implemented as a package in order to achieve higher welfare. Each criterion is dependent on the others to achieve meaningful improvements. For example, slower-growing birds are naturally more active, requiring more space to move around, and needing enrichment opportunities to perform important behaviours for their well-being.
Fast-growing birds benefit from more space and natural light, but are unable to fully utilise enrichment features (such as perches). These birds grow so big so fast (four times faster than 50 years ago) they are unable to behave like chickens who naturally like to perch, peck, forage and play. They often have poor walking ability, high rates of lameness, are lethargic and spend most of their time (85%) sitting doing nothing. They suffer a range of health problems, including heart defects, organ failure, muscle disease, foot lesions and compromised immune systems.
Therefore, fast-growing birds are physically unable to take full advantage of the extra space and environmental enrichments provided. This is why we call for using breeds with proven welfare outcomes in the BCC.
Of the 1.15 billion chickens reared for meat in the UK in 2020, around 90% of them were fast-growing breeds.
Current retailer commitments and compliance
Our Spotlight table highlights whether the supermarkets have signed up to the BCC and if their public policies align with the BCC criteria for indoor fresh chicken. Given that 72% of UK adults believe consumers should know if the chicken has had a healthy life, the table also identifies BCC-compliant indoor fresh chicken ranges offered by supermarkets to guide consumer choices. It is important to note that the retailer might also offer higher welfare free-range or organic options, but these do not form part of the Spotlight table.
| Table Key | |
|---|---|
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The company has either: - Signed up to the BCC - Is compliant with the relevant BCC criterion (as evident from their corporate policy) |
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The company is compliant with the relevant BCC criterion through reliance on a farm assurance scheme, rather than embedding it in its corporate policy. |
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The company is not yet compliant with the relevant BCC criterion. However, it has a time-bound commitment to adopt that BCC criterion. |
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The company has either: - Not signed up to the BCC - Is not compliant with the relevant BCC criterion. |
Conclusions
Compassion has actively engaged with retailers for many years to support them on their welfare journey, and encourage full transparency on their commitments and progress to compliance with the aid of its annual ChickenTrack report.
Below is a summary of Compassion’s 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 its 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/m²), while ALDI, Lidl, Morrisons and Tesco have committed to give their birds more space, aligning with the BCC criterion.
- The vast majority of retailers have not committed to adopting slower-growing breeds, which is essential to truly delivering the welfare benefits expected by their customers.
- The vast majority (10 out of 12 retailers) state that they provide environmental enrichment to stimulate the natural behaviours of broiler chickens, i.e. they provide at least two metres of usable perch space and two pecking substrates per 1,000 birds in line with BCC standards. However, four 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 (CAS) using inert gas or multi-phase systems, or effective electrical stunning without live inversion).
Consumer concerns and priorities
Consumers show a high level of concern for broiler chicken welfare. Surveys in the UK reveal that most adults believe chickens feel pain (91.7%), experience emotion (75.1%), and need room to explore and exercise (90.5%). Additionally, surveys conducted across 14 countries (including the UK) reveal that consumers prioritize chicken’s living conditions, such as outdoor access and sufficient space, as well as humane transport and slaughter methods.
Source: Information Sheet 2 – Consumer perception of broiler production.
What needs to be done?
One of the most important requirements of the BCC is moving to slower-growing breeds that have been shown to have better welfare outcomes and lead healthier, happier lives.
Whilst recent moves in the UK sector to lower stocking densities 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.
The Food Business team at Compassion engages with all UK retailers on the development of their broiler chicken welfare policies and improvement of their public reporting. However, more needs to be done across the industry to improve the welfare outcomes of UK broiler chickens, such as moving to slower-growing breeds.
We strongly urge retailers to 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.
