Waitrose has pledged to meet the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) and has launched new welfare labels to make customers make more informed decisions.
By the end of August, all Waitrose own-brand chicken will adhere to BCC’s enhanced welfare standards—a move that the RSPCA has hailed as 'trailblazing'.
It means the supermarket chain will become first UK grocer to surpass the BCC's deadline for retailers to meet the standards.
In conjunction with this, Waitrose is launching a welfare labelling system to help customers understand specific production methods.
While introducing this new labelling system, Waitrose is calling on the government to implement mandatory, industry-wide welfare labelling.
Initially, the labelling scheme will be rolled out across all fresh chicken from UK farmers.
It ranks chicken products into five distinct welfare tiers, with the lower two tiers excluded from Waitrose own-brand chicken.
It differentiates farming methods—such as standard indoor, more space indoor, BCC-compliant, free-range, and organic—using a visual format.
This tiering system, a first for UK supermarkets, aims to empower customers to make informed choices based on their values.
Charlotte Di Cello, chief commercial officer at Waitrose, said the move "demonstrates our determination to lead the industry towards higher standards".
She said: "We believe in a food system where animal welfare is paramount, producing the best quality, delicious food, ethically and sustainably.
"We know shoppers really care about welfare, with nearly 70% stating its importance in product labelling, so we hope they will welcome our raising the bar again."
Method of production labelling is already mandatory on shell eggs, and has led to more shoppers choosing higher welfare, according to the retailer.
Neill Patterson, Waitrose Farmer, said, "At the early stages the birds were very inquisitive, pecking at all the different bits of the shed.
"They also love the play bales and the perches too. When you're walking the birds it's nice to see that activity and the birds foraging and dustbathing, exhibiting natural behaviours."
