Today (23 July) we have launched a campaign targeting KFC, after the company abandoned its long-standing commitment to improve the lives of chickens.

18 broken promises

Earlier this year, KFC was among 18 brands that pulled out of the Better Chicken Commitment, or BCC. This is an industry-recognised standard for higher-welfare chicken, which, critically, involves moving away from chicken breeds that have been selected to grow unnaturally fast (so-called ‘Frankenchickens’). This pace of growth leads to significant pain and suffering for these sentient animals.

KFC signed up to the BCC in 2019, when its then General Manager, Paula MacKenzie, said:

[this] isn’t just a box-ticking exercise for us, we’re doing this because we truly believe it’s the right thing to do. Chicken is our business and we have a responsibility as ‘the’ chicken brand, to make sure that we are pushing improvement to chicken welfare standards across our supply chain.

No plans to improve chicken welfare

Seven years on, KFC's promise and passion have gone.

In its place, KFC and the other departing brands have created a new industry-led body called the “Sustainable" Chicken Forum. No website exists for the group, and its vague aims do not include stopping serving Frankenchickens.

The stakes are high. It’s estimated that KFC buys around 4% of all chicken raised in the UK. This means that KFC’s actions alone will lead to at least 40m Frankenchickens being farmed in the UK every year.

Holding KFC to account

We shared an open letter with KFC and the other companies that simultaneously dropped their BCC promise. This was met with silence. KFC was offered extensions to its original timeline that it chose not to take up.

Now we’ve launched our #GoForSlow campaign to shine a light on this issue and urge KFC and the other defectors to recommit to improving chicken welfare. We’re calling for clarity on what the companies will be doing to shift away from fast-growing breeds and set out a clear timeline for making the transition. In doing so, they can start to rebuild the trust their customers placed in them.

Other companies have shown that change is possible. All own-brand chicken from Waitrose and fresh chicken from M&S is now 100% BCC standard, and producer Norsk Kylling has met the BCC in full.

Take action for chickens

Join us and tell KFC to keep its promise to chickens.

KFC under pressure to deliver chicken welfare promises