The Grocer – 20 July 2019

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analysis welfare

The ‘Better Chicken Commitment’ underlines six requirements

K

FC won high praise from
animal welfare groups
last week after becom-
ing the first major fast food
chain in the UK to sign up to the
‘Better Chicken Commitment’
(BCC) – meaning it will meet a
new set of minimum standards
on welfare by 2026.
It comes amid growing scru-
tiny on UK supermarket chicken
following a string of exposés in
the sector. However, M&S and
Waitrose are still the only major
supermarkets to have signed up
to the BCC. So what new stand-
ards must signatories meet?
And why aren’t other mults
making the pledge?
The BCC was drawn up in
2017 by 28 leading animal pro-
tection charities from across
Europe, including Animal
Equality, Compassion in World
Farming and The Humane
League. It requires signatories
to raise their baseline stand-
ards of welfare by meeting six
requirements for 100% of their
broiler chickens by 2026.
Producers must use slower-
growing breeds so that chick-
ens’ bodies do not place undue
pressure on their legs. They
must also provide chickens
with at least 50 lux of light; a
minimum of two metres perch-
ing space; two objects to peck
at per 1,000 birds; no more
than 20ppm of ammonia gas in
their sheds and no caging sys-
tems. Finally, maximum stock-
ing density should be 30kg/m²
or less.
Signatories must also “com-
ply with all EU animal wel-
fare laws and regulations”, use
“controlled” atmospheric or
electrical stunning and submit
to third-party audits.

Why won’t the supers agree

to poultry welfare pledge?

The BCC exceeds the stand-

ards of Red Tractor, which

demand 20 lux and a stocking

density of 38kg/m², with no spe-

cific requirements for breeds

and less stringent ones for

stunning. Instead, it is broadly

aligned with RSPCA Assured.

However, while schemes like

the RSPCA’s apply to individual

product lines, the BCC covers a

retailer’s entire range.

Retailer concerns

This is great news for welfare,

but supermarkets are concerned

the higher costs associated with

less intensive production would

in essence remove the option

of a cheaper chicken tier from

Henry Sandercock

shelves, and therefore limit

consumer choice.

“If retailers all signed up

to the BCC, there will be an

increase in cost and it would

reflect directly on to the con-

sumer,” says a poultry industry

source.

At Tesco, for example, con-

sumers can currently choose

its Organic and Finest ranges,

which already meet BCC stand-

ards. The rest of its chicken

meets four out of six of the BCC

criteria, but would not be com-

pliant on maximum stocking

density and adopting breeds

with higher welfare outcomes.

There are also concerns that

introducing yet another assur-

ance scheme would lead to

“more confusion and less clar-

ity for consumers”, says the

poultry industry source. “There

is willingness to follow inno-

vations, but we need to be

realistic.”

Existing standards are strong

In any case, industry bodies

like the British Poultry Council

suggest the high standards of

welfare in the UK mean it’s not

necessary for supermarkets to

sign up to the BCC. “Welfare in

the UK is world-class, heavily

regulated, science-based, and

continually improving,” says

public affairs and public rela-

tions manager Shraddha Kaul.

Tesco, Asda, Morrisons,

Sainsbury’s and the Co-op all

say they meet Red Tractor as a

minimum, for example, which

means maximum stocking den-

sities on supermarket chicken

are still well below the EU

requirement of 42kg/m².

And some supermarkets

claim they are already going

further than the BCC.

Sainsbury’s, which says it is

the largest retailer of RSPCA

Assured products, claims it has

a “more effective” approach to

regulating chicken welfare and

therefore will not be signing up

to the commitment. “The way

we work with our farmers is dif-

ferent and has been for years

and we are committed to high

standards of animal welfare,”

says a spokeswoman.

“We’ve created a cycle of

measuring, managing and con-

tinuously improving the health

and welfare of our animals, and

we believe the results speak for

themselves.”

Signing the commitment has

proved a marketing coup for

KFC, and the charities behind

the BCC, but convincing major

supermarkets to follow suit

is likely to prove a greater

challenge.

Compassion in World Farming’s

picture shows chicken farming to

BCC standards in the Netherlands

Compassion in World Farming