Thousands of customers ‘furious’ at Pret in frankenchicken backlash

Activists celebrated Pret A Manger’s 40th birthday by dumping a 6 foot birthday card filled with angry messages from customers outside its HQ. In the past four weeks, Pret has received 2,200 comments on its social media accounts about “frankenchickens” amidst the ongoing animal welfare controversy.

The backlash follows Pret’s decision earlier this year to push back its 2018 commitment deadline to stop using fast-growing chicken breeds from 2026 to 2032 – a 14-year delay from its original commitment.

No progress at Pret

Compassion in World Farming’s Chickentrack confirms Pret has made 0% progress on phasing out frankenchickens.

Campaigners argue that Pret is ‘ignoring’ its customers’ concerns, as the high-end chain hasn’t replied to a single comment criticising its stance. 74,000 people have signed a pledge to take a break from Pret until it delivers on its promise to stop selling fast-growing breeds of chicken, known as frankenchickens.

Connor Jackson, chief executive of Anima, said:

The fact that Pret appears to be abandoning their responsibilities to animal welfare has rightly shocked customers. And now they appear to be ignoring customers as well. Understandably, I think this silence has only strengthened people’s concern and anger.

Campaigners from Anima have taken a car-sized, animatronic frankenchicken replica to Pret stores across London. The group has protested at 60 individual Pret stores since the campaign began.

Fast-growing “frankenchickens”, bred to reach slaughter weight in just 35 days, can suffer chronic pain, deformities and heart failure as their bodies struggle to keep pace with their engineered growth rate.

Around 1.1 billion are reared for slaughter in the UK each year, and the RSPCA has named fast-growing broiler breeds the most serious animal welfare problem in the country.

The Anima campaign has drawn support from broadcaster and naturalist Chris Packham, who has criticised the reversal of Pret’s pledge.

Meanwhile, Project Slingshot, a campaign backed by Joanna Lumley, Paul McCartney, and comedians including Sara Pascoe, Diane Morgan and Kerry Godliman, is running parallel London Underground advertising highlighting the suffering of fast-growing chickens and criticising Pret on social media and on its website.

Anima says it will continue to campaign about Pret until the company commits to a credible, near-term plan to transition away from fast-growing breeds.

Featured image via Anima