Co-op has “declined to accept” an open letter addressed to its new chair Debbie White by over 2000 Co-op members, urging the retailer to stop breeding frakenchicken.
Organised by animal protection charity The Humane League UK and led by Chris Packham, the letter calls upon White to respect the membership’s vote and get rid of the high stocking density, fast-growing and low-welfare breed of bird.
Campaigners have described the practice as “disgraceful” and have called the retailer out for continuing to “profit” from “millions of innocent chickens every year”, despite members already voting to get rid of the practice.
The Human League campaigns manager Claire Williams 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.
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“The membership already voted out these disgraceful practices, and those who continue to support this are dragging Co-op’s legacy through the mud. Debbie has an amazing opportunity to push for change, and we want to help her do the right thing and stop using Frankenchickens.”
Alongside the letter, Chris Packham has recorded a video addressing White, and the ‘longstanding animal welfare scandal’ at the Co-op.
A Co-op spokesperson 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.
They added that the retailer “fully complied” to the request from its members, and had met criteria of the Better Chicken Commitment “for all of our chicken, bar one”.
Last year, Co-op was again embroiled in controversy after members last year voted to adopt the Better Chicken Commitment – which gives chickens more barn space – and ban frankenchicken, to which Co-op refused to adopt the commitment and stop selling the breed.
In recent weeks, the convenience retailer has announced all animals raised for their fresh chicken range will now have 20% more space, however a new investigation by Open Cages found Co-op was one of the highest offenders for supermarkets selling chickens with excrement marks.
The ulcerated brown and black burns, also known as hock burns, are caused from chickens left in their own excrement until ammonia burns into their flesh leaving a permanent ulcer, which can be seen on packaged and prepared meats in supermarkets.
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