KFC faces backlash for abandoning Better Chicken Commitment

Fast-food chicken outlet KFC has been targeted by animal rights groups after it abandoned its previous pledge to meet the so-called Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) by 2026.

The BCC calls for a number of welfare targets to be met, including improved lighting and air quality, lower stocking densities of 30kg/sq m, and a move to slower-growing breeds.

More than 300 companies have signed up to the commitment and, while most have already managed to implement many of the changes, a lack of availability of the required “higher welfare” slower-growing birds has created challenges for some.

See also: What the ‘Better Chicken Commitment’ means for farmers

At the Egg and Poultry Industry Conference on 11 November, Ruth Edge, head of sustainability at KFC, told Farmers Weekly’s sister magazine Poultry Business that, while the fast food chain still had ambitions of moving towards the BCC, it would not be able to do it within the timeline it had previously committed to.

Ms Edge said: “Availability is a massive issue for us. Because retailers en masse haven’t moved towards slower-growing birds, we essentially can’t access it. We will deliver lower stocking density by 2026 for UK and Ireland chicken.

“For the rest of our supply, we don’t have a timeline at the moment.”

Demonstration

Protesters from the Humane League held a demonstration outside KFC’s UK head office in Woking on 28 November, following the announcement.

Sean Gifford, managing director at the Humane League, said: “We praised KFC as a pioneer in animal welfare for their early adoption of the Better Chicken Commitment.

“Now KFC say they won’t meet the 2026 deadline, leaving tens of millions of birds in agony.

“A promise to improve chickens’ lives is meaningless if there is no timeline attached to it. We urge KFC to publish a timeline for change, which is the very least these animals deserve.”

Rudi Van Schoor, chief supply chain officer at KFC Pan-Europe, said: “The Better Chicken Commitment is an absolutely essential framework for tracking and improving welfare standards which we follow. When we signed up in 2019, we did so to support the direction of travel and to agitate for change in the wider industry. We were very clear that we could only meet all of the asks in the Commitment if the wider poultry sector moved, as we make up less than 3% of the total UK chicken market.

“The reality is, at the moment, the UK poultry industry is not yet in an operational and commercial position to deliver the Better Chicken Commitment by 2026. But, we remain committed to the Better Chicken Commitment framework – we signed up in good faith and with the best intentions, and have worked hard with our chicken suppliers to deliver year on year improvements in key welfare outcomes, being completely transparent about progress.

“We will always want to serve our customers great quality chicken, which is reared with care. For that reason, we are continuing to work on our roadmap in partnership with key welfare NGOs, which includes reducing stocking density to 30kg per square metre for all UK purchased chicken. And alongside all our partners and peers across the industry, we will be doing everything we can to play our part and provoke meaningful change in the UK market.”