Tesco has announced the completion of its transition to lower chicken stocking densities, with all of the retailer’s fresh chicken now grown with 20% more space.
Its move from the previous “industry standard” stocking density of 38kg/m² to 30kg/m² – first announced last June – represented “a significant step-up in welfare standards”, Tesco said.
The switch also built on Tesco’s existing higher welfare brands, such as Finest, Slower Grown, and Organic, which already included more space for birds to roam, the retailer added.
Tesco said it would also “provide additional financial support to its suppliers and farmers of around £50m a year to help implement the enhancements in chicken welfare and associated costs”.
This commitment “underlines Tesco’s partnership approach across its supply chain”, it stressed, while also “reaffirming its commitment to sourcing all its fresh chicken from UK farms”, in a thinly veiled reference to Asda’s decision – first reported by The Grocer in March – to source some fresh chicken from the Continent.
Trial work comparing 30kg/m² to a control farm operating at 38kg/m² showed birds were “happier and healthier, with improvements in behavioural measures such as resting, moving, wing-flapping, running, sparring, foraging and perching”, Tesco said.
The supermarket’s stocking density reduction follows similar moves by Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, the Co-op, Aldi, Lidl, M&S and Waitrose, leaving Asda and Iceland as the main outliers from what is now rapidly becoming a new industry standard for chicken stocking density.
But while 30kg/m² meets the criteria of the Better Chicken Commitment, Tesco, alongside every other major UK supermarket apart from M&S and Waitrose, is yet to sign up to the industry-wide initiative, which also mandates a series of other welfare improvements in chicken supply chains, including the use of slower-growing breeds.
Tesco said its move to give chickens more space would also ensure birds continued to have increased access to environmental enrichment such as straw bales, perches, pecking objects and natural light.
“The change ensures customers can access chicken that is raised with more space to perch and move around, while maintaining the same great value,” it added.
“We are committed to continuously improving animal welfare and standards, while maintaining great value and quality for customers,” said Tesco group quality and sustainability director Claire Lorains.
“We’ve worked closely with our British farmers to ensure all our core fresh chicken meets higher welfare standards. This commitment not only supports British agriculture, but also significantly enhances welfare standards across the UK’s poultry industry.”
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