Sales of welfare-friendly chicken soar

Consumer sales of welfare friendly chicken have soared by more than £50m in a year.

More people are buying more Freedom Food labelled indoor chicken than ever before, according to the RSPCA.

But lower welfare “standard” chicken is taking a downturn.

Sales of Freedom Food chicken have increased from £16.4m to £71.6m since March last year, according to figures released on Wedesday (14 April).

This compares to a drop of more than £26m for standard chicken.

Animal welfare was still a priority for even the most budget-conscious consumers despite the recession, said the RSPCA.

The growth in the amount of Freedom Food chicken sold in supermarkets rose from 5.6m kilos to 20.7m kilos compared to a 11m decrease for standard chicken.

This news comes two years after chicken welfare hit the headlines with high profile campaigns by celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Freedom Food chief executive Leigh Grant said: “These latest results far exceed anything we could have predicted.

“They are absolute proof that chicken welfare is of paramount importance to more people than ever before.”

The research shows that Sainsbury’s is the largest retailer of Freedom Food chicken, followed by Tesco and then Morrisons.

Findings were based on Kantar Worldpanel data for the 52 weeks to 21 March 2010 on sales of fresh chicken meat sales in major UK supermarkets.