Animal rights group Compassion in World Farming has claimed that less than 20% of the own-label chicken that UK retailer Sainsbury's sells is 'higher welfare', despite the retailer pledging to only stock higher-welfare chicken eight years ago.
Dubbing the retailer 'Shamesbury's', Compassion in World Farming said that it was 'appalled that Sainsbury’s had broken its promise' on improving chicken welfare.
'Sainsbury's absolutely have the right to react to the market, but as they publicly committed to meeting the criteria for our Good Chicken Award (and then backtracked on this), we have the responsibility to be transparent and let people know,' the group wrote on Twitter.
'Broken Promise'
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who campaigns on behalf of Compassion in World Farming, said, "As far as I’m concerned, Sainsbury’s has definitely broken its promise on improving welfare for its own-brand fresh chickens."
In response, a Sainsbury's spokesperson said that, in the past decade, the retailer has "become the largest retailer of RSPCA-assured products in the UK, and our commitment to animal welfare has not diminished in any way."
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
