From chick to checkout in about six weeks

Chickens sold at Countdown are farmed in crowded conditions, with less room to move than those sold by their parent company in Australia.

Top image: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals

We like to think of New Zealand as world leaders in animal welfare, but you might be shocked to learn, not when it comes to chickens farmed for meat.

It's bad enough that the animal welfare standards for meat chickens in New Zealand are so poor. But you’ll also be shocked to know that Australian-owned companies in New Zealand use lower animal welfare standards for chickens here than they do in Australia. It’s just wrong.

Why are New Zealanders being sold second-rate chicken? Why does Countdown use lower animal welfare standards in NZ than its parent company does in Australia?

Countdown, New Zealand's largest supermarket chain by stores, is owned by Australian company Woolworths. Both Woolworths and Countdown sell home brand fresh chicken.

In Australia, Woolworths recognised that the Australian laws for chicken welfare aren't good enough and signed up to a voluntary higher-welfare scheme run by their RSPCA for their home brand chicken. It gives their chickens more room to move and better conditions.

But in New Zealand, Countdown relies mostly on the minimum legislated standards, which are generally lower than the RSPCA standards that Woolworths uses over the ditch

Woolworths and Countdown have one standard for us and a better standard for the Aussies. It's the chicken equivalent of the underarm bowling scandal. And it's got to stop.

Tell Countdown to stop this chicken welfare double standard. Demand Countdown at least meet the welfare standards used by Woolworths in Australia. And preferably beat them!

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Give New Zealand’s chickens more room to move

Call on Countdown to at least match Aussie standards for its meat chickens. And preferably beat them!​

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Why does this matter?

When farming chickens, the amount of space each bird has to move and display normal chicken behaviour, is important for their welfare. The more chickens per square metre in a barn or shed, the less room they have to move, and the worse their life is. The industry calls this ‘stocking density’.  

In New Zealand, Countdown finds it acceptable for their suppliers to have 19 birds in every square metre. While in Australia, Woolworths makes its suppliers keep only 17 birds for every square metre and will go down to 16 in 2023. 

It may not sound like much of a difference, but when you consider the average chicken barn has tens of thousands of birds in it, these differences are considerable at scale. Better stocking density is one of the welfare issues that can be the difference between a life packed so tightly it's hard for the chickens to flap their wings and a life worth living.

New Zealand consumers deserve to know

Countdown’s double standards also extend to the amount and quality of information provided to Woolworths and Countdown consumers about the welfare standards used for chickens. 

In Australia, Woolworth's website provides clear, accurate and detailed information about key chicken welfare issues, like stocking density.  

In New Zealand, Countdown provides much less. The Countdown website says about stocking density:

" All fresh chicken must meet the MPI Code of Welfare for Meat Chickens and recommended best practice is for chickens to be reared at stocking densities less than 30 kg per square metre". 

That equates to about 15 birds in every square metre which sounds good, but it's only the recommended best practice. The actual MPI Code allows you to have up to 19 birds in every square metre, which is below standards used in Australia and the European Union.  

The Countdown website doesn't actually tell you which standard they use but creates the impression they use the better one. When World Animal Protection asked for more clarity, a Countdown spokesperson muddied the waters even further:

“For own brand fresh meat chicken our minimum requirement is to meet the MPI Code of Welfare for Meat Chickens. Some suppliers meet this minimum requirement and others exceed it. Some suppliers are SPCA Certified, some are AsureQuality Animal Welfare Standard certified, some are independently audited by QCONZ”.

So Countdown not only uses different standards here than Woolworths uses in Australia, but they are not clear or consistent with their information for New Zealand consumers. It's unacceptable: New Zealand consumers deserve better and so do our chickens.

Ultimately, all companies who produce and sell chicken in New Zealand should sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment. Around the world, well known brands like KFC in Europe and Nandos in the UK have already signed the Better Chicken Commitment giving chickens better lives through more room to move and by using slower growing bird breeds. The use of fast growing breeds – standard in Australia and New Zealand – is a key welfare problem.

So while we want Countdown to start with a commitment to at least match Australian standards, this is not the end of the journey. Together, we can give chickens lives worth living.  

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