Broiler chicken

The change will improve welfare standards and increase stimuli for chickens so they can express more natural behaviours 

Improved welfare standards will be applied within the next 12 months to all Sainsbury’s standard-tier own-label fresh chicken, the retailer has pledged.

By March 2023, all fresh chicken products in the By Sainsbury’s lineup will have been reared in 20% more space than the industry standard, it said.

Fresh chicken products to be affected include plain, breaded, cooked, added value, BBQ and hot counter chicken lines.

The change would improve welfare standards and increase stimuli for chickens so that the animals could express more natural behaviours, Sainsbury’s added.

Sainsbury’s plans to work with farmers to monitor animal behaviour and report progress through its annual health and welfare update.

It hoped to help consumers make choices that support animal welfare without compromising on affordability, it said.

“We care about animal health and welfare as much as our customers do, and we are committed to offering our customers quality and value while ensuring high welfare standards,” said Rhian Bartlett, Sainsbury’s food commercial director.

As part of the supermarket’s “commitment to helping everyone eat better, it’s important to us that we are helping our customers make healthy and sustainable choices, while maintaining great quality at affordable prices” she added.