Aldi has introduced new stocking density requirements for its fresh chickens, which it claims will improve their quality of life.

All fresh chickens sold at the discount supermarket will have 20 per cent more space than industry standards, with new packaging alerting customers about the higher welfare standards.

Aldi said the move is part of its ongoing commitment to animal welfare.
In August, Aldi announced that it had reached its target to sell 100 per cent cage free eggs more than a year ahead of schedule.

Aldi has been working with suppliers to improve hen welfare in recent years and said it has invested £50 million into UK egg farming and producers over the past 24 months.

“Animal welfare is of paramount importance to us, and we’ve been working hard with our suppliers to reduce stocking density to help us improve the welfare conditions for chickens,” said Julie Ashfield, managing director of buying at Aldi UK. “We’re already one of the UK’s largest providers of chicken and we’re proud that from next week, we can offer our customers access to higher welfare chicken at our unbeatable Aldi value.”

Earlier this week, Lidl announced that it will more than triple the amount of plant-based products on offer after seeing a 12 per cent increase in demand over the past year.

The discounter predicts that demand for plant-based protein will continue to rise, with the company anticipating that it will account for around a quarter of its total protein sales by 2030.

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