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Somerfield results - Animals
- Indicator 6.1
- Indicator 6.2
- Indicator 6.3
- Indicator 6.4
- Overall commentary and examples of good practice
- Supermarket comments
Indicator 6.1
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
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.
Indicator 6.3
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.
Indicator 6.4
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
- Seek to ensure that all pigmeat, own label or branded, is produced without the use of stalls & tethers for pregnant sows.
- Explore measures to increase the overall proportion of non-cage egg sales.
- Set a target date by which it intends to cease selling own label and branded battery eggs.
- Promote greater sales of free range and organic poultry meat.
- Although current journey times are not unacceptable, explore a further reduction in the permitted journey time for red meat animals.
- Continue to ensure adherence to the principle that animals should be slaughtered as near to the point of rearing as possible.
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.
