Good chicken award for The Co-operative

The Co-operative has been presented with a Good Chicken Award by Compassion in World Farming.

The accolade was presented to the retailer at Compassion’s Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards because of its higher welfare Elmwood standard for its own-brand chicken.

The Elmwood standard was first introduced in 2007, when The Co-operative carefully selected a group of dedicated British poultry farmers to embrace its own higher welfare and quality standards for its fresh plain whole chickens.

Elmwood has now been rolled out as a minimum standard to all The Co-operative’s own-brand fresh, frozen, barbecue, breaded and ready-to-eat chicken. This represents a volume in excess of 50 million broiler chickens a year.

The farmers are some of the best in the poultry business, and ensure that the Co-operative’s Elmwood standards are adhered to at every level. The chickens are nurtured for longer in a more enriched, sunlit environment with more room to move about and perch.

Lynne Forbes, Category Development Manager at The Co-operative, commented: “We’re very pleased to have received a Good Chicken Award, which is a new category in Compassion’s Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards.  Animal welfare is something that is of upmost importance to The Co-operative, its members and its customers.”

Rowen West-Henzell, Head of Food Business for Compassion in World Farming, commented: “This is an amazing achievement and Compassion is very proud to be working alongside The Co-operative to bring better lives to millions of broiler chickens.”

For further information please contact

Eve Alexander
Senior Public Relations Officer
The Co-operative Group
Tel: 0161 827 5895
Email: eve.alexander@co-operative.coop