The fast food chain KFC has ditched its pledge in the UK to improve animal welfare by sourcing its chicken from slower-growing breeds by 2026.
Fast-growing meat chickens have been called “Frankenchickens” because of welfare concerns, including higher mortality rates, lameness and muscle disease. More than 1 billion chickens are slaughtered in the UK each year for meat.
KFC won plaudits in 2019 when it announced it was signing up to the Better Chicken Commitment but now says it will not meet the pledge. Its 2024 annual progress report on chicken welfare reported that just 1% of its chickens were from slower-growing breeds.
The firm’s ambition was to meet six key targets by 2026, including adoption of slower-growing breeds and a maximum stocking density of 30kg a square metre or less, which gives the birds significantly more space.
KFC restaurants in the UK, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden signed up to the commitment, but the company has made almost no progress in adopting slower-growing breeds.
Ruth Edge, head of sustainability at KFC UK and Ireland, told the Egg and Poultry Industry Conference in Wales last week that its ambition of using slower-growing breeds by 2026 was not achievable.
“We’re not saying we’re never going to,” she said. “But we’re saying for 2026, and the way the market has developed, or lack of, we’re not going to be able to do it.”
KFC says there is an inadequate supply to meet the commitment because farmers are not switching in big enough numbers to slower-growing breeds. The company says it is still working to source chickens from farms with lower stocking densities.
Campaigners say a move to slower-growing breeds would reduce mortality rates and improve welfare, but many retailers and restaurants have been reluctant to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment because of the higher costs involved.
Food firms and retailers that have signed up to the commitment include Marks & Spencer, Burger King, Subway, Nando’s, Nestlé and Greggs. One of the commitments is third-party auditing to ensure compliance with the standard by 2026, with a longer timeframe for companies that have signed up this year.
The animal welfare group the Humane League UK said it would be protesting against KFC over the backtracking. Katie Ferneyhough from the charity said: “The use of Frankenchickens is the biggest animal welfare crisis of our time, and we will not tolerate companies breaking their promises to animals. We will not rest until KFC comes to the table and sets out a new timeline for adopting the [Better Chicken Commitment].”
Connor Jackson, co-founder of the charity Open Cages, said: “We are in touch with companies that can supply KFC with the slower-growing chickens it needs to fulfil its commitment. The fact that KFC has made less than 1% progress on removing Frankenchickens from its supply chain is very concerning.”
An RSPCA spokesperson said: “Faster-growing breeds of chicken can suffer severe health and welfare issues, and we urge KFC to do all they can to transition to using only slower-growing breeds as soon as possible.”
Rudi Van Schoor, the chief supply chain officer for KFC 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. We were very clear that we could only meet all 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, at the moment, is that 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.”
