The UK often prides itself as a leader in animal welfare, and in many ways it is. Retailers have repeatedly shown they can shift the market when they choose to. The all-retailer shift to increasing space allowance for broiler chickens didn’t happen by accident. It happened because supermarkets made a deliberate choice.

Some retailers have gone even further. Waitrose and M&S were early adopters of giving chickens more space, and are the only supermarkets pushing welfare to the next level by addressing breed change as part of their sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC).

The power of an individual retailer was demonstrated in March 2023, when Sainsbury’s decided to reduce stocking density to 30kg/ m²— and swift action with its producer — triggered a wider shift across all major retailers. This shows how influential a single retailer can be when it chooses to lead.

However, when it comes to the BCC, that leadership is faltering and the sticking point is breed change. Waitrose remains the only UK retailer to have achieved full BCC compliance, including use of slower-growing breeds, across its entire range - all fresh, frozen, processed and ingredient chicken. M&S is fully BCC-compliant for fresh chicken and plans to expand its higher‑welfare volumes, proving that breed change is commercially achievable. But most retailers have stopped short of this step.

Space Without Mobility Isn’t Welfare

The Better Chicken Commitment remains the most robust, science-based framework for broiler welfare. It requires companies to adopt healthier, slower-growing breeds with proven welfare outcomes, increase space allowance and provide meaningful enrichments such as natural light and straw bales to enable and encourage birds to fully engage with their environments, and ensure more humane slaughter.

Moving from fast‑growing to slower‑growing breeds is essential: without breed change, chickens cannot fully benefit from extra space or environmental enrichments. Fast‑growing breeds continue to suffer poor welfare outcomes, often remaining lethargic, flat and visibly stressed.

Retailers are still reluctant to invest in slower-growing breeds, largely because the change demands further investment and more space capacity on farms. Many argue that because they’ve already reduced stocking density, they’ve “done their bit” for animal welfare – citing their birds as ‘happier and healthier’. But providing more space alone is not enough. Fast‑growing breeds—bred for rapid weight gain—still struggle to walk, perch, explore, or express natural their behaviours.

Sainsbury’s Could Help to Stimulate the Market—Again

Food Service companies sourcing British chicken rely heavily on the retailers to drive welfare improvements, since they source from the same sheds. That’s why the next big step on breed change must come from the retail sector. Sainsbury’s led the move on stocking density for fresh chicken, and it could do the same for breed change. This would unlock the supply needed for food service companies and set a benchmark for other retailers to follow.

Food‑service companies — like the 18^[1] that recently, and prematurely, walked away from their BCC commitments, putting profit over welfare — would gain greater access to the supply they claim is missing if retailers moved on breed change. Some higher‑welfare supply already exists — but food‑service companies aren’t acting decisively to secure it, even though they could start now and steadily build their volumes. With commitment across all sectors, the market would expand, giving producers the confidence to invest and allowing genuinely higher‑welfare chicken production to scale up.

As one industry spokesperson put it: “The availability of ECC-approved breeds is not an issue. The key point is planning and longer-term commitment; it is essential to have a structured transition plan in place in order to be able to access increasing volumes of slower‑growing chickens.” Paul van Boekholt, Hubbard

The Momentum Is Already There

Compassion’s latest ChickenTrack report shows the willingness from BCC signatories to progress with their Better Chicken Commitments, with more than 163 million chickens already benefiting from BCC on‑farm welfare criteria.

Waitrose and REMA 1000 Norge AS achieved full BCC compliance ahead of the 2026 deadline, joining Norsk Kylling as early adopters. Encouraged by strong customer support, M&S recently announced a 33% expansion of its British higher‑welfare chicken volumes, noting that more shoppers are choosing its Remarksable Value Oakham Gold range. As the company put it: “Our customers want trusted value, and our Remarksable range shows you don’t have to trade affordability for quality or animal welfare.”^[2]

Waitrose echoed this sentiment, saying: “By communicating creatively and proactively, we ensured customers felt part of our chicken welfare journey. We have been outperforming the market in terms of sales since we introduced the BCC, proving that there is real demand for higher welfare.”^[3]

Even in a challenging economic climate, companies continue to publish timelines for achieving 100% BCC compliance - with eight more released in the past year alone - adjusting deadlines where needed but not abandoning their commitments. They remain confident that meeting the BCC is both essential and achievable.

Across Europe, higher‑welfare chicken is becoming increasingly accessible as Dutch and French retailers push ahead with meaningful improvements to broiler welfare. In France, this progress has been helped by clear method‑of‑production labelling - the AEBEA labelling scheme - which allows retailers to distinguish higher‑welfare products on the shelf and helps consumers make informed choices. Waitrose also introduced its own chicken welfare labelling to help promote its BCC-compliant chicken. It’s exactly this kind of transparent labelling that the UK now needs. Without it, retailers lack a straightforward way to signal better welfare to shoppers, and the market for higher‑welfare chicken remains far harder to grow than it should be.

How The Sustainability Argument Can be Addressed

One of the most persistent arguments against the BCC is that slower‑growing breeds are “unsustainable.” But 2 Sisters Food Group—one of the UK’s largest poultry producers—is demonstrating that this simply isn’t true.

The company is pushing forward on both welfare and sustainability by cutting the carbon footprint of the soy used in all its poultry feed, including for its higher‑welfare birds. By switching to low‑carbon soy, reducing overall soy dependence, and eliminating soya linked to deforested or converted native habitats, sourcing only from areas last converted before the end of 2008, 2 Sisters is proving that the increase in emissions often associated with higher welfare production can be mitigated.

This approach allows the business to scale up higher‑welfare production while actively reducing carbon across its supply chain. It’s a clear demonstration that welfare and sustainability are not competing priorities—they can progress together, and they should.

If companies are serious about reducing their environmental impact, the most effective first steps are to adapt feed composition to the specific production system and breed, and to replace non-sustainable soy with more responsible alternatives. However, sustainability goes beyond just cutting carbon emissions - higher welfare systems deliver a wide range of additional benefits. Many full-system studies show that slower-growing breeds achieve better welfare outcomes (including being more active/happy), leading to lower mortality, better walking ability, and fewer carcass downgrades — all of which reduce waste and improve the usable meat yield per flock. Higher welfare systems also support human health, improve working conditions for the farmers, and help companies meet growing consumer demand for responsibly produced food.

BCC Support Systems Already Exist

Compassion’s Better Chicken Business Network has expanded rapidly over the past two years and now brings together 246 participants from 149 companies across 21 countries. It has become a practical, hands‑on support hub for businesses working toward BCC compliance. The network provides supplier lists that identify companies able to produce or distribute BCC‑compliant chicken, along with a matchmaking service that helps businesses connect with the right suppliers based on product type, volume, timing, and location. It also offers training modules and organises study tours to BCC‑compliant farms, giving companies the chance to see higher‑welfare systems in action and learn directly from those already implementing them.

One company already on the journey explains how they are making it work: "By rethinking our recipes to use different parts of the chicken and focusing production on strategic suppliers, we balanced demand across multiple cuts, increasing the use of dark meat and reducing the use of wings. This allowed us to confirm, together with our partners, a four‑year growth plan for ECC volumes." — Clara Goupy, Buffalo Grill

Farmers themselves are increasingly positive about the shift, with many reporting healthier birds and a more satisfying working environment. Neill Patterson, a Waitrose farmer, recently reflected on the change: “When you’re walking through a group of birds, it’s nice to see them performing all their natural behaviours, from foraging to playing, resting and dustbathing.”^[4]

Internationally, the direction is unmistakable: Norway is banning fast‑growing breeds entirely, and the UK Government’s own Animal Welfare Strategy signals support for companies moving to slower‑growing birds.

Retailers Can Make Higher Welfare the Baseline

The BCC is not a radical proposal. It is a responsible, evidence‑based framework that is already working where it has been adopted. What it needs now is scale. And scale can only come from retailers, who are responsible for roughly 65% of the UK’s grocery market.

Sainsbury’s changed the industry once — and it can do it again. If Sainsbury’s moves, others will follow. Food service companies will re‑enter the market. Producers will have the confidence to invest. And consumers will finally have a meaningful baseline from which to choose.

Alongside this, retailers have another powerful lever: reducing overall chicken volumes and increasing their alternative protein offering. Fewer barns, fewer birds, and more space for better systems is not only good for welfare but good for the environment too. Encouraging more plant‑rich diets and offering attractive alternatives makes the transition to higher‑welfare chicken more achievable and more affordable.

The path forward is clear. What’s needed now is the courage of UK retailers to do the right thing for chicken welfare and lead. If they step up and stay true to their ethical values, they won’t just influence the market, they’ll help redefine the future of chicken welfare in this country.

^[1] Burger King UK, Lemon Pepper Holdings (Wingstop), Loungers UK (Brightside, Cosy Club, Lounge Café Bars), Nando’s UK & Ireland, PLK Chicken UK (Popeyes), The Big Table (Banana Tree, Bella Italia, Las Iguanas, Frankie & Benny’s), The Restaurant Group (Barburrito, Brunning & Price, Wagamama, TRGC), Yum! Brands (KFC UK & Ireland, Pizza Hut UK, Taco Bell UK)
^[2] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marks-and-spencer_ms-expands-british-chicken-farming-commitments-activity-7421224394439479296-ZURP
^[3] https://www.compassioninfoodbusiness.com/resources/broiler-chickens/waitrose-case-study/
^[4] https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/content/sustainability/animal-welfare/chickens?srsltid=AfmBOorHpo4uFXbapNQfTBdYx5xMDQhfwW2sgcQi91dPoK3LBAD2kOQf

UK Retailers Hold the Key to Unlocking Higher Welfare for Chickens