Australian fast-food restaurants are using chickens who are bred to suffer
News
New report breaks the common misconception that Australia is a global leader in chicken welfare and highlights the unspeakable cruelty they endure on factory farms.
Our ‘Fast Food, Slow Progress’ report found that Australian fast-food restaurants continue to profit from using fast-growing chicken breeds, while the rest of the world commits to using slower-growing breeds.
Factory farming practices used by fast-food companies have led to an animal welfare catastrophe on an unprecedented scale. This includes the use of fast-growing chicken breeds and confining chickens to cramped spaces barely larger than an iPad.
Chickens are being bred to grow so fast that their bodies can’t keep up. These animals pay the price for the greed of fast-food companies which profit from the suffering of millions of chickens.
Switching to slower-growing breeds is the single most impactful change that the industry can make to improve chicken welfare.
Australian fast-food companies have the power to improve the lives of hundreds of millions of animals by signing onto the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC).
Some of the key findings of the report are as follows:
- Outside Australia, over 600 commitments have been made to improve chicken welfare
- Domino’s remains the only fast-food restaurant in Australia to have signed the BCC
- While KFC in the UK and six other countries across Europe have adopted the BCC, Hungry Jacks, Starbucks, Subway, Nando’s, Pizza Hut, and KFC Australia have so far declined to do so
- Subway, Pizza Hut, and KFC in Australia have not even taken the first step to improve the welfare of chickens in their Australian supply chain.
As the first and only Australian fast-food company that has signed on to the BCC, a spokesperson for Domino’s said:
Domino’s is proud to be the first fast food restaurant chain in both Australia and New Zealand to sign the Better Chicken Commitment, an initiative aimed at significantly improving the welfare of chickens in our region.
We are proud that 100% of the chickens supplied to Domino’s in Australia and New Zealand have free access to clean water and quality feed, with none housed in cages or multi-tier systems. However, we acknowledge that more can be done to improve broiler welfare standards within our supply chain.
Domino’s is dedicated to achieving its 2026 targets, ensuring that all of our chicken meets or exceeds the Better Chicken Commitment standards for all 2,300+ stores across Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
Fast Food, Slow Progress
Australian fast-food companies are falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to chicken welfare.