Waitrose has recognised the importance of broiler chicken welfare, by signing up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC).
Earlier this month the supermarket chain stated that “Waitrose & Partners has pledged that all fresh and frozen chicken, and all chicken meat ingredients, across all Waitrose own-brand products will meet the requirements of the pledge by 2026”.
This great news means Waitrose is the most recent chain to commit to improving the welfare of chickens, following on from IKEA which announced in February that it will go beyond the ECC’s requirements in their new animal welfare plans. Both companies will end the use of the fastest growing chicken breeds, and address overcrowding amongst other issues.
As the number of companies signing up to the Commitment grows, Tesco’s excuses for not doing so seem even more baseless. As the largest supermarket chain in the UK, Tesco should be leading the way in animal welfare standards, not lagging behind the way it is now.
It’s not difficult to see that current farming and slaughtering practices cause immense suffering to chickens (you can find out more here: tescotruth.org ), yet Tesco continue to turn a blind eye. Chickens cannot speak out against the cruelty being inflicted upon them, and so they need your help.
Make it so that Tesco cannot continue to ignore their responsibility towards these beautiful, intelligent birds.
Please e-mail them at customer.service@tesco.co.uk and call them on 0330 123 4055 and ask why they still haven’t signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment.
Post originally written by Catherine Reda.