Our agricultural heritage dates back to 1943 and since then, we have been dedicated to providing the highest standards of animal husbandry, welfare and biosecurity to ensure that our poultry, pork, and lamb is of the highest standard from the very beginning.
Our supply chain is made up of leading higher welfare pig and poultry farmers and leading suppliers of farm assured quality lamb. We are also proud to be the UK’s largest producer of organic and free-range chickens.
Supporting local farmers is our passion, and we are committed to helping them prosper, providing the security they need to invest in sustainable farming methods and practices.
Responsible Farming
Working with over 4,500 local farmers across our poultry, pig and lamb supply chain, we are committed to producing the highest quality food, meeting the needs of both our customers and partners. We aim for excellence at every step, from farm to fork.
Animal welfare is at the heart of what we do, and we work alongside our supply chains to adhere to the highest standard of poultry, pig and lamb farming.
This commitment helps to ensure the wellbeing of our animals and upholds our continued high standards across the industry. We continually review our processes to ensure we are meeting these standards, and the safety and wellbeing of our animals continues to be our main priority.
Integrity is Key
We’re committed to ensuring that all our animals experience the best possible conditions on our farms, and we work with our farmers to support them in providing these conditions. Outlined by the Farm Animal Welfare Council, we consider the ‘Five Freedoms’ when ensuring high animal welfare is adhered to across our supply chain:
A pioneer of breeding and farming standards, our focus on responsible farming has created a strong and sustainable supply of fresh, high quality and locally farmed poultry, pork and lamb. We have developed award winning training and development programmes across our agricultural business, encouraging a wide range of people to develop a successful career in farming.
Independently Assured
Our farmers work to ensure they produce the best quality from the beginning, and we support them each step of the way through pioneering initiatives and encouraging sustainable practices. All of our chicken farmers are part of several independent assurance schemes such as Red Tractor Assured Chicken production, a food assurance scheme which covers production standards developed by experts on safety, hygiene, animal welfare and the environment amongst other things.
Throughout our independent farm pig supply chain, all our independent contracted farmers meet, and often exceed, the requirements of the Red Tractor or QMS Assurance schemes. In partnership with our farmers, our lambs are reared outdoors, grazing on grass and foraging crops to adhere to Red Tractor standards, helping us maintain our higher welfare values. Our lamb producers are Farm Assured and produce lambs to our higher welfare standards, independently audited by Farm Assurance assessors.
