Activist Watch Weekly, prepared by Will Coggin of the Berman Group has reported that major UK brands including KFC, Nando’s and Popeye’s have withdrawn from the “Better Chicken Commitment”.
The obligations implicit in the various levels of the “Better Chicken Commitment” are antithetical to sustainability and have increased the cost of product. There is a growing realization that consumers are opting for lower cost of raw and prepared chicken and now place less emphasis on welfare in the purchase decision.
Over the past decade, welfare organizations including Humane World, Mercy for Animals, the SPCA and the Humane League have individually or collectively coerced retailers, distributors of branded eggs, chicken, turkey and derived products to accept onerous and scientifically indefensible welfare standards. These organizations are less interested in flock welfare than they are in ultimately destroying all intensive livestock production in pursuit of a vegan agenda.
Although a number of producers have modified housing and production practices to conform to the lowest tier of the “Better Chicken Commitment”, the realities of successive escalation in standards are now apparent and the marketing benefit from certification is now in question.
The Center for the Environment and Welfare, supported by the food industry has created a new website www.environmentandwelfare.com that posts reports on the environmental impact and activities of welfare organizations and pending legislation.