Co-op members demand new chairwoman removes 'Frankenchickens' from supermarket
The Co-op's new chairwoman, Debbie White, is facing pressure from members to remove "Frankenchickens" from the supermarket group's supply chain.
Broadcaster and naturalist Chris Packham is leading calls from more than 2,000 Co-op members for White to respect the membership's wishes to stop selling meat from low-welfare, fast-growing breeds of chicken. In an open letter organised by animal protection charity The Humane League UK, the members urged Ms White to be "an advocate for giving Co-op chickens a better life".
It said: "This breed of chicken is genetically selected to grow unnaturally big and unnaturally fast in order to maximise profit margins. But the true cost of this breed is the suffering. Frankenchickens are likely to collapse under their own weight and to experience organ failure and heart attacks, alongside a myriad of other health problems."
The Co-operative Group, which is jointly owned by around five million individual members and societies, came under fire last year after an investigation showed footage of what appeared to be malformed chickens at supplier farms. During the company's annual general meeting in May, 96% of the 30,000 members who voted supported a resolution asking the board to consider adopting in full the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) a set of standards adopted by Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and Greggs.
They want to stop using cages, give chickens more room, not use "Frankenchicken" breeds, and make it less painful for chickens when they are killed. The Co-op's bosses said their free-range chicken is already good like the BCC says, and some of their other chicken is okay too.
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But they also said they might not make as much money soon, so they need to think about how to make chickens' lives better but still keep prices low for shoppers. The Co-op said they will give animals used for their fresh chicken 20% more space with a new plan called "space to thrive" and they follow all the BCC rules except they still use fast-growing chickens.
People who signed the letter like the new changes but are sad that the Co-op still uses fast-growing chickens. They said in the letter: "We want our Co-op to agree to shift away from the cruel practice of raising Frankenchickens for meat and be the pioneer in animal welfare that is written so proudly in our sustainability reports. We are not expecting changes overnight, but we want to hear a commitment from the board that our Co-op will be leading the way for a better future for farmed animals."
In a video, Mr Packham told Ms White: "Wouldn't it be good not to use that breed of chicken any longer? To send a clear message via the consumers, through your stores to the producers that we're no longer happy with that taking place. The Co-op prides itself on being an ethical supermarket, an ethical organisation, and times have changed Debbie, we know this. We've got to change our minds and our practices,".
Mr Packham also asked: "So can I ask you to please consider not taking any more Frankenchickens in the Co-op stores? It would send out a fantastic message, like I said. It would be a great step forward something to think about in your first few weeks and months as Co-op chair."
Claire Williams, who works for the campaign, said: "Co-op claims to stand apart from other supermarkets because of its ethics. Yet they profit from factory farming tens of millions of innocent chickens every year, locked in dirty barns, bred to grow so agonisingly quickly that many struggle to walk. Debbie has an amazing opportunity to push for change, and we want to help her do the right thing and stop using Frankenchickens."
A spokesperson from Co-op said: "Ensuring the animals in our supply chain are looked after is a priority and all of our fresh chicken is 100% British, meets or exceeds Red Tractor standards and birds are reared to lower stocking density (30kg/m2), which is a higher welfare standard and has a significant positive impact on welfare and health of birds."
"We are a member-owned organisation, constituted to create value for our members and we have fully complied with the 2023 AGM request of our members to consider improvements in our chicken welfare."
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