THE RSPCA has launched a new advert highlighting that Tesco is now stocking its assured chicken in stores.
Whole birds, which are sold under the ‘Room to Roam’ branding, are currently priced at £3.33/kg on the retailer’s website.
By contrast, standard whole birds are priced from £1.87/kg.
The 20-second ad features scenes from an RSPCA Assured poultry farm, and shows active birds making use of straw bales in well-lit barns.
RSPCA Assured has enjoyed great success in some sectors, such as free-range eggs, but struggled to gain market share for its assured poultrymeat offering.
The standard requires lower stocking densities and slower-growing breeds and is broadly in line with the Better Chicken Commitment that several restaurants, including KFC, have now signed up to.
There are 31 RSPCA Assured certified indoor chicken farms in the UK, and 157 free-range.
Products from the range are available in Aldi, Lidl and Sainsbury’s, as well as Tesco.
‘No gimmicks’
Xenia Kingsley, the charity’s marketing manager, said: “With so many different chicken labels on offer in shops and supermarkets, it can be really confusing for people to know what to buy.
“Our latest TV ad is designed to cut through that confusion.
“There are no gimmicks or complicated messages. It simply shows healthy, active, well cared for birds on a typical RSPCA Assured indoor farm, with a clear call to choose RSPCA Assured if you care about chicken welfare.”
