Sainsbury’s plucks up its chicken welfare standards

Today, Sainsbury’s has announced that from March 2023 it will be improving the welfare of all its By Sainsbury’s fresh chicken across its core ranges. As part of its commitment to helping everyone eat better, the retailer’s shift will give customers access to chicken grown with more space to perch and move, at the same great value.

Within the next 12 months, all fresh chicken that customers buy from Sainsbury’s will be grown at a reduced stocking density in bedded barns. This means that customers can be confident that the chicken they purchase from Sainsbury’s is grown under welfare conditions which are better than the UK standard. The change also includes increased stimuli for chickens such as additional bales, as well as pecking objects and platforms for perching, providing chickens with the freedom to express more natural behaviours.

As part of a new strategic partnership with its poultry supplier, Moy Park, Sainsbury’s has taken significant steps to build on its commitment to enhancing animal health and welfare by adopting birds grown with more space as standard.

The new measures across its core range will ensure that all by Sainsbury’s fresh chicken will be from improved welfare standards, allowing customers to choose chicken that has benefited from over 20% more space than the industry standard at a competitive price. Sainsbury’s will work with farmers to monitor animal behaviour as part of the programme, tracking the impact of the improved welfare practices, reporting progress through the annual health and welfare report.

The commitment will see Sainsbury’s, help customers in making choices to support greater standards of animal welfare, while maintaining affordability and accessibility. The switch will be completed by March 2023, with chicken with improved welfare stocked as a minimum standard across fresh ranges.

Rhian Bartlett, Sainsbury’s Food Commercial Director 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. As part of our 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. That’s why in the next 12 months all our by Sainsbury’s fresh chicken will be grown with over 20% more space than the industry standard, so when customers buy chicken from Sainsbury’s, they can be confident that they are making better choices, without compromising on value.”