A clear "no" to killing chicks: Kaufland is changing product ranges
By the end of 2021, Kaufland will completely convert its own brand range of organic, free-range and barn eggs to avoid killing male chicks. The company announced this last July. “We have already converted two-thirds of our K-Bio range. We are also in talks with our regional suppliers to completely adapt this range as well,” says Stefan Rauschen, Managing Director of Purchasing Freshness at Kaufland. In laying hen rearing, 45 million male chicks are killed every year because they do not lay eggs and do not produce enough meat for fattening.
“We allow all methods currently available on the market to avoid killing chicks. For ethical reasons, it is particularly important to us to sort out the male eggs at a very early stage of incubation for early gender detection in the egg. That's why we only allow early detection up to the 10th day and it's usually completed by the 9th day at the latest," says Rauschen.
Fairness for animal and producer
Constantly improving the welfare of livestock is an important concern for Kaufland. For several years, the company has been offering alternative and sustainable solutions to common husbandry conditions in a wide range of animal products. As an alternative to killing chicks, for example, eggs from concepts with rooster rearing have been offered since 2016. These are now available in almost all Kaufland stores in Germany.
Together with selected German family businesses, Kaufland also launched the "Farm-Ei" project last year. Here the chickens have 20 percent more space than free-range chickens, more activity material and are given special feed mixtures with herbs. The producer receives for each egg a surcharge of 1 cent and for participating in the program a monthly bonus of EUR 500. The eggs are available nationwide in all branches.
Since the beginning of 2020, Kaufland has also been offering chicken and chicken products in all branches nationwide that meet the special requirements of level 3 husbandry and also come from free-range husbandry. This makes Kaufland the first grocer nationwide to offer chickens from this particularly animal welfare-friendly husbandry. At the fresh meat counters, pork, turkey and chicken meat are already available exclusively from the particularly animal welfare-friendly level 3 husbandry system.
Doing makes the difference
Kaufland takes responsibility for people, animals and the environment. Commitment to sustainability (CSR) is deeply anchored in the goals and processes at Kaufland. The initiative "Make a difference" reflects the attitude and identity of Kaufland. This is also expressed in the various CSR measures and activities. Kaufland demands within the subject areas of home, nutrition, animal welfare, climate, nature, supply chain and employees to get involved, because the world can only get a little bit better if you get involved.
