In 2008 celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall raised the alarm about cheap, speed-reared chicken. A decade later arguably Britain’s most famous sandwich chain made a very public pledge to stop using the meat.
Now, eight years on, Pret A Manger is making headlines again, not for having phased out so-called “Frankenchicken” from its shops but for having broken its promise to do so. And its place in the spotlight is becoming increasingly uncomfortable because a £1 million “public accountability campaign” backed by Project Slingshot is making sure everyone knows it.
Founded by one of the creators of Veganuary, Matthew Glover, Project Slingshot’s goal is to expose the systems that support factory farming as well as “the corporations, lobbying power, and industry myths that keep it going”. Back in April it plastered almost 3,000 adverts across London Underground stations and trains drawing attention to the use of gas chambers to slaughter pigs. MFM founders Paul, Mary and Stella said at the time it was “doing exactly what needs to be done: pulling back the curtain on factory farming so that people can make informed choices”.
Now it has been doing the same for Frankenchickens – commercial birds cruelly bred to become as big as possible in double-quick time, going from egg to abattoir in just 35 days. Its new celebrity-backed “I don’t buy it” ad campaign on the capital’s streets and Tube trains hammers home the awful facts: in the UK, 95 per cent of chickens are factory farmed, and of those 90 per are Frankenchickens. It adds that a majority of Britons (56 per cent) oppose factory farming
Pret had promised in 2018 to to stop using Frankenchickens by this year, but is now pushing that date back to 2032. The animal rights charity Anima has also been drawing attention to that fact, placing a car-sized mechanical Pret “Frankenchicken wrap” in front of stores in London and asking customers to pledge not to patronise Pret until the company “keep their promise to the chickens”.
But it isn’t just Pret, as Project Slingshot makes clear. The Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) was set up in 2016 by animal welfare groups and signed by a number of Britain’s biggest food providers and restaurants. Those who took part pledged to use slow-growing breeds and higher welfare standards, and to phase out the use of Frankenchickens by 2026. With the deadline approaching, eight signatories – companies that between them own 18 brands, including Nando’s, Wagamama, Burger King and KFC – withdrew in February this year.
The chain had appeared to be doing so well too: under former chief executive Clive Schlee it broadened its plant-based range and opened three Veggie Prets in London and one in Manchester, and eventually had 10 non-meat stores. Schlee retired in 2019 after running the chain for 16 years and was replaced by Pano Christou. All the Veggie Prets have now closed.