Chicken protest Sheffield: Humane League protest outside Morrisons supermarket over "frankenchickens"

The protesters want Morrisons to join companies like M&S, Waitrose and KFC, in signing the Better Chicken Commitment as they believe the use of fast-growing chickens is cruel.

Protest leader, Matthew Sparks, said: “In their adverts they say they make good things happen and they have happy chickens in fields when it’s far from that, it’s the opposite.

"At the end of the day, Morrisons are using a breed of chicken that has been engineered to put on extreme amounts of weight and it’s still a sentient being that can feel pain.”

The Better Chicken Commitment website describes the commitment as a science-based policy addressing issues relating to the breeding of fast-growing chickens and high-yield, housing, stocking density, and slaughter.

Mr Sparks said: “Marks and Spencer have done it and Waitrose have done it so it’s not difficult to sign up too, but we’ve had quite a lot of push back on it and they’ve not acknowledged it at this stage.

"We may only see their carcasses on the grocery aisle, but these chickens are sensitive creatures enduring lives of unimaginable pain and confinement. Why don’t Morrisons think their customers, or countless animals, deserve better?”

When approached with the Humane League’s concerns, a Morrisons spokesperson said: “We care deeply about animal welfare. All our regular chicken is raised to above Red Tractor standards; we are also the only retailer in Europe to ask our fresh chicken suppliers to require chicken to be born into the barn in which it will be raised by 2025. 80% of our fresh chicken meets this standard already.

We also actively monitor for any malpractice in our supply chain; we will never tolerate it or look the other way and if we ever find it, we will act swiftly and decisively."

They also said they are in line with Tesco and Sainsbury’s “by committing to offer a range of chicken adhering to all nine of the Better Chicken Commitment standards” which no others offer, aside from M&S and Waitrose, who have signed the Better Chicken Commitment.

What is the Better Chicken Commitment?

The Better Chicken Commitment website says it is the “leading set of standards” for broiler welfare driving the food industry towards higher welfare practices.

They’ve had big name companies like Burger King, Chipotle, Subway and Nestle sign the commitment, as well as Waitrose and Marks and Spencers, as pointed out by the Humane League.

The website says by signing the Better Chicken Commitment, companies are signalling to their customers they are meeting rising expectations for animal welfare, sustainability, and food quality.

The end-goal for any company signed to the Better Chicken Commitment is to be only be using chicken breeds approved by the BCC by 2026.

By 2024, companies signed up to the BCC will prohibit all kinds of broiler cages from their processes, provide chickens with an improved baseline environment and reduce the amount of pre-stun handling of birds.

To read the full Better Chicken Commitment, click here.