Aldi UK’s Chief Executive has vowed that the supermarket will only ever sell fresh chicken and beef from British farmers. Giles Hurley also ruled out selling chlorinated chicken or hormone-treated beef, regardless of any future trade deals being struck for when the Brexit transition period comes to an end on 31 December.
Aldi’s fresh chicken and beef range is already 100% British and the company confirmed today that this will never change. The commitment sits alongside the chain’s existing policies to only sell British products across multiple categories, including its core range fresh meat, milk and eggs.
Hurley said: “Aldi is one of the biggest supporters of British suppliers and we want to make it clear that will always be the case. We are a signatory to the NFU Back British Farming Charter and our entire core range of fresh meat and milk is from Red Tractor-approved farms in the UK. We will never compromise on the standards or specifications of our products, and that includes a commitment to never selling chlorinated chicken or hormone-injected beef.”
He added: “Britain has some of the highest food quality standards in the world, and our commitment to only source chicken and beef from this country means our customers know they are always buying high-quality Aldi products at unbeatable value.”
At the end of last month, Waitrose’s new head James Bailey joined farmers and other industry representatives in appealing to the government to protect food standards in new trade deals currently being negotiated. He said in an open letter that any regression from current high standards in the UK would be an unacceptable backwards step and pledged that Waitrose would not sell any products that did not meet its own standards.
Dave Lewis, the boss of Tesco, has also ruled out selling chlorinated chicken from the US, saying the supermarket’s customer research had found shoppers did not want to bring back farming and food processing techniques that Britain had phased out because of concerns about animal welfare and food safety.
A recent petition launched by the National Farmers Union (NFU) that asked members of the British public to sign up if they wanted “the UK government to ensure all food imports are produced to the same high standards as British farmers” gathered over one million signatures.
NAM Implications:
- Given ‘Buy British’ commitments by discounters and mults…
- …the issue may become one of obvious limits to UK chicken and beef population.
