The Plukon Food Group received the ‘Good Chicken Award’ in Paris on Thursday 25 October 2015. This award was presented by the international animal welfare organisation Compassion in World Farming to Plukon for its unique Free-range Chicken chain.
In 2007, Plukon developed a new livestock husbandry concept for broiler chickens together with a number of broiler chicken farmers and the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals. This first animal-friendly initiative also laid the foundation for the Better Life logo (one-star Better Life label).
Plukon sells the Free-range Chickens under the names ‘Volwaard’ (in the Netherlands) and ‘Fairmast’ (in Germany) and under private labels for various supermarkets. This free-range chain has made Plukon the market leader, with a market share of around 90% of total sales of animal-friendly chicken meat in Dutch supermarkets. Albert Heijn and Plus are large-scale buyers of this unique free-range concept. Following a successful introduction, Plukon will now be rolling out this concept in Germany.
Plukon works together closely with the processing industry to make improvements in the area of animal welfare. Unilever recently replaced the raw material in its Unox Kipknaks to Better Life free-range meat. This switch was also awarded in Paris with a ‘Good Chicken Award’. As a result of the partnership with airline KLM, it has been possible since October to order chicken meals with the one-star Better Life label on board KLM flights in the World and European Business classes.
From the end of next year, KLM will be serving chicken meals with this label on all flights departing from Amsterdam. Winning the ‘Good Chicken Award’ is a wonderful acknowledgement for Plukon and supports its efforts to secure a more solid leading position in Northwestern Europe.
Compassion in World Farming is an international organisation that promotes the welfare of farm animals around the world. The ‘Good Chicken Award’ was presented this year for the third time. It is awarded to retailers, manufacturers, food service companies and government organisations as acknowledgement of a sustainable and responsible approach that results in a tangible improvement to animal welfare.
