RSPCA: Demand for higher welfare food doubles, reveals IGD report

Friday, 7 October 2011 5:09 PM

A new report by the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) reveals the trend for higher welfare food continues with twice as many shoppers claiming to have bought a higher welfare product, such as Freedom Food, over the past four years.

As revealed in the Grocer Today, almost half (48%) of Brits also said animal welfare is very important to them when choosing what food to buy, and follows Sainsbury’s latest announcement that sales of Freedom Food products have risen by 10% over the past year alone.

This news is part of an extensive piece of research carried out by the IGD for Freedom Food, to help better understand shopper attitudes to farm animal welfare and shape its future marketing strategy.

Key highlights also include:

— Nearly nine in ten (86%) of those aware of Freedom Food understand that it represents higher animal welfare standards - far more than the other schemes evaluated
— Over four in five (81%) of Freedom Food shoppers are attracted by the higher animal welfare standards it offers
— Almost two thirds (63%) buy Freedom Food products because of its association with the RSPCA
— Egg laying hens followed by meat chickens and beef cattle are the animals about which people are most concerned
— Thirty five per cent of chicken and pork buyers would be prepared to pay extra for knowing that the farm inspections were conducted by independent experts like Freedom Food assessors

Labelling confusion:

As demand for higher welfare food has grown so has the number of different labels claiming higher welfare credentials with at least eight just for chicken. According to Leigh Grant, chief executive of Freedom Food, this plethora of labels can be confusing for shoppers:

“Our research clearly reinforces that people are caring more and more about the animals that produce our food. But with so many different labels now on offer claiming higher welfare credentials, it can be confusing to know what to choose and which ones meet the RSPCA’s higher welfare standards.”

Freedom Food launches new ad campaign:

In response, Freedom Food is launching a new online advertising campaign to clarify what its label means and tackle consumer concerns about the way animals are farmed.

Leigh continues: “The message we want to get across in the ad is that Freedom Food is the only label backed by the RSPCA. This means you can be sure that the food you are buying has come from animals whose lives have been independently inspected at every stage, not just on the farm, to the RSPCA’s higher welfare standards.”

The advert will focus on chicken, as the most commonly farmed animal, and will run from the 10 October across popular news, lifestyle, food, and women’s websites. This follows print ads earlier this month in titles including My Weekly, Pick Me Up, Chat and Take a Break. If successful the campaign will be rolled out across other species as part of a three year strategy.

For more information please contact Stephanie Power on 0207 630 6633/07944860839.

-ends-

Notes to editors:

*All the IGD data used in this press release is taken from Shopper Attitudes to Animal Welfare, a report for Freedom Food by IGD, July 2011. Our methodology involved an online survey among a representative sample of 1,000 British meat shoppers aged 16+.
*To view the full report visit www.rspca.org.uk/freedomfood/producers
 

Tags:
• animal welfare