Co-op Group chicken to meet higher welfare standards

The new concept – called Space to Thrive – will meet higher welfare criteria for how much space a chicken has in a barn.

The measure, called stocking density, means all birds in this range will not exceed 30 kilogrammes of chicken per metre square, which is 30 per cent more room for birds than standard ranges, so the chickens will have more room to roam and display natural behaviours.

Now all of the Co-op’s fresh whole chicken will now meet the 30kg requirement.

Ranjit Singh Boparan, owner and president of Birmingham-based 2 Sister’s parent company Boparan Holdings, said: “This is great news and I’m delighted that the Co-op has chosen this higher welfare chicken. As a business we’re on a journey to transform our poultry operations to produce happier, healthier birds and this is the latest milestone in that journey.

“We’ve listened very closely to our customers – and also consumers – who tell us they want more options when it comes to higher welfare chicken as well.

“We’ll always produce the full range of products, ranging from organic, free range to standard birds, but as the years go by, more and more people are asking for higher welfare birds that are still competitively priced, and that’s what we’re proud to deliver.

“And we’re not stopping here. The journey will continue as we move more of our estate to higher welfare birds.”

2 Sisters has three of its chicken processing sites in the Black Country – two at West Bromwich (Howard Street Industrial Estate, Hill Top and Dial Lane) and one at Lincoln Street, Wolverhampton.

The poultry operation’s agricultural team have been responsible for implementing the gradual change to higher welfare birds – a process which started in 2020 across the estate of 60 higher welfare farms in the UK.

Agricultural director Nick Davies added: “This is another important step on transforming our estate and it has taken a lot of work from breeders, planners, farmers, processing sites and commercial teams for it to be delivered.

“Our customers have supported us through this journey and are now delivering ranges to their consumers that they’re asking for.”

In October 2022, 2 Sisters announced a significant milestone in the history of its poultry operations with more than two million birds processed every week meeting higher welfare standards.

Since 2022, The Group’s poultry operations, which process more than 10.5m chickens every week in the UK and Europe, producing more high welfare chickens than at any other period in its history.