UK supermarket Morrisons has announced that by November 2024 all of its own-brand fresh chicken will be grown with over 20% more space than the industry standard of 38kg/m2 as part of its "journey to improve and enhance animal welfare standards".
Morrisons has reduced its chicken stocking density "steadily" over the years, but will now take this down to 30kg/m2 from the current density of 34kg/m2. It said that this would make it easier for customers to make the "positive choice" to support higher standards of welfare "whilst remaining competitive on price".
The retailer also said that it was the only one in Europe to ask their fresh chicken suppliers for their chickens to be born into the barn in which they are raised, which avoids handling and transport. Morrisons stated that it was working towards ensuring more than 90% of its fresh chicken suppliers were doing this.
Sophie Throup, technical and sustainability director at Morrisons, said: "As British farming's biggest direct supermarket customer, we care deeply about how our animals are grown and we are always looking at ways with our suppliers to improve standards.
"That is why by the end of the year we will have lowered our stocking density giving chickens more space as they grow. The changes we intend to make across all of our own-brand fresh chicken will allow customers to make more positive choices when it comes to the products they purchase as we continue our journey to improve welfare standards."
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
