Somerfield results - Animals

Indicator 6.1 View criteria

Issue: Corporate commitment to farm animal welfare standards

Indicator: Board-level responsibility for and policy on farm animal welfare standards, and promotion

Somerfield has both a named board member responsible for animal welfare and a written corporate farm animal welfare policy.

Indicator 6.2 View criteria

Issue: The welfare of breeding pigs - pregnant sows

Indicator: Sales of pigmeat from progeny of breeding sows kept in stall or tether systems

The vast majority of Somerfield’s own label pigmeat is produced without stall and tether systems. However, 2% of its fresh pigmeat comes from these systems that have been prohibited in the UK on animal welfare grounds. No figures were submitted for branded pigmeat sales. 

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Indicator 6.3 View criteria

Issue: The welfare of laying hens and broiler (meat) chickens

Indicator: Sales of shell eggs by production system

Somerfield’s proportion of non-cage egg sales, a key indicator of progress on animal welfare, was 26.4% in 2003—a decline since 2002. Most of these non-cage egg sales are from free-range hens, suggesting scope to reverse this decline. In addition, Somerfield has not run any promotional activities on non-cage eggs this year.

Indicator: Sales of fresh and frozen chicken by production system

Chicken meat sales by Somerfield are almost entirely (99.1%) intensively produced.

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Indicator 6.4 View criteria

Issue: Transport of farm animals

Indicator: Policy on transport of farm animals

Somerfield sets a maximum journey time of 8 hours for red meat animals travelling for slaughter. Across all red meat species, average journey times for Somerfield remain well within the maximum permitted by company policy. Somerfield reports average journey times of 3 hours for cattle and sheep, and 2 hours for slaughter pigs.

Overall commentary and examples of good practice

Areas for improvement

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Supermarket comments

It is not possible to use a large number of small, local slaughterhouses. As a business we purchase those cuts and joints which our stores sell. Our suppliers have to find alternative markets for these cuts and joints which cannot sell. Small slaughterhouses cannot cope with this imbalance hence the need to use larger slaughterhouses.

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