Ethical Foods Memo: Chef Jamie Oliver and Sainsbury's Both Winning in the Famous Factory Farming Flap

A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush: It looks like celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's are both coming out winners in their recent spat, which found chef Oliver, who's also Sainsbury's TV commercial pitchman, slamming the grocery chain and other British supermarkets on his TV documentary, "Jamie's Fowl Dinners," for not sending representatives to debate him on the issue of factory poultry farming following the airing of the program.

[Read our three previous pieces on the issue here (January 7), here (January 11) and here (January 12, 2008).]

British grocery retailer Sainsbury's said today's its stores are reporting a huge surge in sales of battery-free-farmed, free-range and organic chickens following chef Jamie Oliver's TV documentary on factory, or battery, poultry farming which aired in the UK recently.

The program, called "Jamie's Fowl Dinners", investigated and discussed the conditions in which battery-farmed chickens are raised and kept in the UK. (As mentioned above, Oliver wanted a representative from Sainsbury's, along with executives from the other major British grocery chains--Tesco, Morrisons and Asda--to appear on a debate with him after the documentary aired. None of the "big four" supermarket chains sent representatives. However, Sainsbury's did provide a company executive who was interviewed by Oliver for the documentary.

Today, a Sainsbury's spokesperson says sales of free-range, organic and chickens adhering to the RSPCA's Freedom Food program have soared by 50% since Oliver's program aired. (You can learn more about the RSPCA Freedom Food program for poultry here, and here.)

Perhaps ironically, the Sainsbury's spokesperson also said sales of battery, or what is also referred to in the UK as intensively-raised chicken, increased over the same time period as well.

For example, Sainsbury's Basics chicken line, a value-line of intensively-raised birds, increased by a modest 1 to 2%, according to the spokesperson. What's significant--and rather interesting in light of the 50% sales increase of the free-range, organic and RSPCA-approved chickens--is that the Basics line didn't have a drop in sales, especially following the airing of chef Oliver's documentary, which is being attributed to the sales increase of the non-battery birds.

Sainsbury's isn't the only British grocery chain to report a substantial rise in sales of free-range, organic and RSPCA-approved birds. Upscale supermarket operator Waitrose, which doesn't sell battery-farmed chickens at all in its stores, reports a 31% rise in sales of organic chickens for last week. Further, the grocer said sales of free-range birds increased by 24% during the same time period.

About 95% of chickens and 63% of egg-laying hens are raised using the battery, or factory or intensive-farming, method in the UK. The issue regarding this method has been a hot one--and is growing hotter on the heels of Oliver's program and a similar one by chef Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall which also recently aired in the UK..

The RSPCA animal welfare group also has been popularizing the anti-intensively-farmed poultry issue with its model set of guidelines for raising fryer-chickens and egg-laying hens. Both Waitrose and British chain Marks & Spencer have adopted the group's guidelines and no longer sell intensively-farmed chickens in their food stores.

Sainsbury's CEO Justin King announced a couple days after the chef Oliver flap that the grocery chain would stop selling the battery-farmed birds as well. Sainsbury's hasn't given a specific date regarding when that will happen. Tesco and Asda also have said they are willing to stop selling the factory-farmed birds as well. However, they haven't definitively said they will do so, nor given a time-line for phasing out the sales of the battery birds, or to stop selling eggs that come from hens farmed using that method.

Chicken is Britain's most popular meat, with 855 million pounds of the feathered bird being produced in the UK every year, according to government agricultural statistics. Those figures also show that the Brits consume 12 times as much chicken as they did just 30 years ago.

Meanwhile, chef Oliver, who is paid $1.3 million annually to be Sainsbury's TV commercial pitchman, seems to be coming out a winner thus far over the whole fowl flap. After an intense phone conversation with Sainsbury's CEO King last week, during which Oliver apologized--and then did so again in a letter--he still remains under contract with the grocery chain.

Sainsbury's seems to be coming out a winner as well. Following the airing of Oliver's program, the grocer went on a PR offensive. It ran full-page advertisements in Britain's major daily newspapers touting its positive animal rights positions. Sainsbury's also sent letters to all of its loyalty card members touting the same message. And of course, King announced the chain's decision to stop selling intensively-farmed chickens last week on a popular London radio show.

Now, this week, as the dust settles, Sainsbury's finds itself selling 50% more free-range, organic and RSCPA-approved birds than it was selling before Oliver's documentary. It also says sales of battery-farmed chickens haven't dropped, and actually have increased slightly.

It appears no harm has been done to Sainsbury's business over the fowl flap with Oliver. In fact, the opposite seems to have happened from a sales standpoint.

It also appears Oliver has had his desired effect. In fact, he's had double the desired effect: not only has he dramatically increased awareness of the factory poultry farming issue, he seems to have gotten his employer, Sainsbury's, to join Waitrose and Marks & Spencer as grocer's who won't sell the intensively-farmed birds any longer as well. It will be hard for Sainsbury's not to do so, since King announced the grocery chain would on a popular network radio show that has a couple million listeners.

Oliver still remains the TV pitchman for Sainsbury's. He hasn't resigned, nor has the grocer made any move to fire him. In fact, doing so would likely result in lots bad press for Sainsbury's at this point in time.

So, if we were keeping score, which we aren't of course, at this point in time we would have to call it a 10 for chef Oliver and a 10 for Sainsbury's. (That's a 10 on a 1-to-10 point scale by the way.)

Further, it seems the big winner in this fowl flap is the anti-intensive chicken farming movement itself, led by the RSPCA organization. They've received much publicity, obtained a commitment from Sainsbury's to stop selling the battery birds, and likely will soon see Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and other British grocers follow the three chains in a policy of no longer selling the intensively-farmed birds in their stores.

Already, with just Marks & Spencer and Waitrose no longer selling the chickens, there's been an increased demand for RSPCA-approved birds in Britain. That demand will grow once Sainsbury's joins the other two grocery chains. Should Tesco, Britain's number one supermarket retailer with about 32% of the nation's total food dollar market share, stop selling battery-raised chickens anytime soon, it would likely be enough to put an end to raising birds in that manner in the UK.

We believe this story is far from over. Stay tuned.

Ethical Foods Memo: Jamie Oliver vs. Sainsbury's: Grocer Says it Will Stop Selling Factory Farmed Chickens

Friend or Fowl? Yesterday, British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was eating his humble pie after a terse phone conversation with Sainsbury's CEO Jason King. Oliver, who is the grocer's TV spokesman, apologized to King for 'biting the hand that feeds him' over a factory poultry farming debate flap. Oliver said he was sorry a second time, sending a letter to King after their phone conversation. Today, however, chef Oliver is feeling his oats--and not a humble pie can be found in the Oliver kitchen. Why? Yesterday, CEO King announced the grocer would stop selling factory farmed chickens in its stores. What's next?

Yesterday we wrote about the spat between British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and Britain's "big four" supermarket chains--Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons--over the refusal of the grocers to send representatives to debate Oliver about factory poultry farming on his TV program. (Read our Friday, Jan 11 story here.)

The internationally famous chef blasted the four leading supermarket retailers for not coming on the show. Oliver, who is the TV commercial pitchman for Sainsbury's, didn't spare his employer either.

Yesterday's version of this ongoing and increasingly dramatic story has oliver apologizing to Sainsbury's CEO Justin King over the telephone, and in a formal, follow-up letter he sent to the supermarket head a bit later.

Today, it seems that despite King's anger at Oliver for "biting the hand that feeds him" over the debate flap, the celebrity chef has had some major league influence on King--or perhaps with Sainsbury's customers, or both.

While being interviewed on the BBC's Today program yesterday, King announced Sainsbury's will eliminate the procuring and selling of all intensively or "factory farmed" chickens in all its stores. King also said the grocery chain will follow the UK's RSPCA organization's Freedom Food welfare standard for all broiler chickens.

The RSPCA is an organization which has set a series of humane welfare standards for raising and processing birds. These standards include: the prohibition of battery cages, strict limits on the density of the birds in cages, and making sure environmental enrichment is provided for the birds. Such environmental enrichment includes perches and playthings for the birds' stimulation and attentive behavior.

Further, the RSPCA standards call for the chickens to have a regular daytime and nightime, so that they're not kept awake artificially. This element goes with another standard, which is to not allow the birds to be fed around the clock, which some intensive or factory poultry farming operations do. This 24/7 feeding causes the birds to reach a mature weight prematurely.

King's announcement on the program yesterday sent shockwaves through the animal rights community, and suprised Sainsbury's rival supermarket chain CEO's.

Just the day before, the retailer ran full-page advertisements in the major London and suburban daily newspapers stating the grocer had nothing to be ashamed of in terms of the poultry it sells. The supermarket chain also sent letters to all of its loyalty card members. With this announcement coming the very next day, some are seeing it as an about face by the grocer.

Those shockwaves that rippled through the animal rights community in the UK were ones of joy however. The UK group Compassion in Farming called King's announcement a "major, ground-breaking step toward animal welfare."

Sainsbury's has already announced it's in the process of phasing-out the selling of eggs that come from caged hens. This announcement, that the grocer will follow RSPCA guidlines regarding the poultry it sells, should put a major focus on the issue and pressure Sainsbury's rival grocery chains to follow suit.

Sainsbury's CEO King did not announce a date on the radio program when the grocery chain would stop selling poulty that isn't raised and processed following RSPCA standards, and offer only those birds that do. The RSPCA organization has asked King to supply the group with that date.

A numer of industry observers in the UK say they believe Sainsbury's was planning on making this move for some time, but that the Oliver debate flap pushed the grocer's timetable up.

This might be true. However, if it is true, we believe it was a drastic advancement of that timetable. In fact, it looks like Jamie Oliver and his outburst was the catalyst that got CEO King to make the announcement yesterday.

Based on Sainsbury's new position on the factory poultry farming debate, and its phasing out of the sale of birds that don't meet RSPCA standards, we're leaning towards the opinion that Oliver just might remain the grocery chain's TV pitchman. After all, as of today both King, Oliver and Sainsbury's are now on the same page on the issue--and no TV debate was even needed. This story isn't over yet though. As they say on TV--stay tuned.

Resources:

>Read more about the RSPCA and its humane poultry program here.

>You can view the RSPCA website here.

>Read specifically about the RSPCA humane chicken campaign here.

>You can view Sainsbury's corporate website here.

>Read what the UK Soil Association (SA), an important agricultural-oriented group, says about the issue, and about organic and free-range chicken farming here.

Monday Morning Java: Starting the Week Off With A Jolt

Friend or Fowl? Celebrity chef bites the hand that feeds him over strong beliefs on factory poultry farming issue debate

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who stars in TV ads for British supermarket giant Sainsbury's, this morning slammed his employer and Britain's other "big four" supermarket chains for not showing up on his TV program to debate factory poultry farming.

Oliver, who gets paid 1.2 million pounds a year for staring in the Sainsbury's TV ads, recently invited representatives from Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons and Asda (the supermarket "big four") to appear on his TV documentary, "Jamie's Fowl Dinners."

As part of the documentary on factory fowl and egg farming, Oliver discovered that supermarkets pay farmers as little as three pence for a chicken, an amount Oliver says is outrageously low. He invited representatives of the four big supermarket chains to appear on the program and discuss and debate the issue.

None of the four, including his employer Sainsbury's, sent representatives to debate the issue with Oliver on the program. This has outraged Oliver, who is not only a famous chef in Britain, but has an international following among food lovers as well.

Chef Oliver told the London Daily Mail newspaper this morning that "they (the supermarket chains) all refused to take part in the program. "I am really upset," Oliver told the Daily Mail. "The question is, why didn't they come. What is there to hide?"

The celebrity chef particularly singled-out Sainsbury's for his anger. "It is shocking that the people (Sainsbury's) I work for didn't turn up," Oliver told the Daily Mirror. "I just don't know why (they didn't)."

Chef Jamie Oliver cries "fowl" and says "big four" British supermarket chains are "chicken" to debate him over factory poultry farming issue.

A Sainsbury's spokesperson said they provided a senior company executive to be interviewed by Oliver on the program. Oliver interviewed the executive for the show. The spokesperson defended their actions, saying they didn't feel the need to debate the issue since the senior manager was provided and interviewed by Oliver.

Tesco, Asda and Morrison's spokespeople didn't offer any direct reasons as to why they declined to participate in a discussion and debate with Oliver on the factory farming and related poultry issues.

However, all three grocer's said they are very concerned about and working on the factory farming poultry issue, and have each worked to create and sell "cruelty free" raised birds and eggs respectively. Each chain offers "cage-free" eggs for sale in the stores, in addition to those raised using conventional methods. They also offer "free-range" birds for sale, along with organic chickens, in addition to birds raised in the manner characterized by Oliver.

It will be interesting to see if (1) Sainsbury's pulls its TV ads, which are currently running frequently in Britain, featuring Oliver, and (2) If either Oliver resigns his commercial arrangement with Sainsbury's, or the supermarket chain fires him.

Of course, both parties could agree to disagree on the debate attendance issue, and work together to better the poultry farm to retail supply chain in all ways. Stay tuned.

Note: you can watch a video of Oliver offering his opinions of the "big four" British supermarket companies, and their decision not to participate in his discussion and debate on the factory poultry farming issue here. We must say, watching the video this morning over coffee did give us an extra Monday morning jolt.