Hundreds of animal welfare campaigners marched from Trafalgar Square to Pret A Manger's London headquarters on 13 October and handed over a petition signed by nearly 100,000 people. A second protest by Animal Equality followed outside the same offices on 14 October. The campaign is still running, and the groups say it'll continue until Pret publishes a plan they find credible.

What happened

In 2018, Pret pledged to stop using fast-growing chicken breeds in its supply chain by 2026. That deadline has now moved to 2032, according to Food Manufacture and The Cool Down.

The petition was launched by the animal advocacy group Anima, which called it "the world's longest animal petition." Food Manufacture reported that Anima's campaign against Pret is backed by around £1 million. A separate group, Project Slingshot, has also run ads on the London Underground in recent months.

Why it matters for animals

The fight is over a specific kind of bird. Campaigners call them "frankenchickens": breeds that grow so fast they live only about six weeks. According to Food Manufacture, many of these birds suffer lameness, broken bones and heart failure.

The Better Chicken Commitment, which Pret signed up to, sets out higher welfare standards for chickens, including slower-growing breeds. Campaigners say a six-year delay from a well-known brand undermines that promise. Pret says the opposite: that singling it out punishes a company that's still trying.

What each side says

Connor Jackson, Anima's chief executive, said "Pret's customers are being conned by empty promises," and described the birds as collapsing from leg disorders and heart failure.

Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality, said Pret made the pledge because it knows the chickens suffer, and that the new 2032 date looks no more believable than the old one. She asked Pret to publish any roadmap it has, with dates and measurable steps, and said the protests would stop once a credible plan is shown.

Pret pushed back in a statement reported by Food Manufacture. The company said it remains part of the Better Chicken Commitment, the industry welfare standard behind the original pledge. "Pret represents a very small proportion of total UK chicken consumption, yet it is the sole focus of Anima's campaign," it said. It added that "there are much larger parts of the market where businesses have stepped back from higher welfare commitments altogether," and argued that targeting a company still working on its promise sends the wrong signal to the rest of the industry.

What we know and don't know yet

We know the old and new deadlines, the size of the petition and what both sides have said publicly. We don't know what progress Pret has made toward the switch so far, because no detailed public roadmap has been published. The campaigners' description of how these birds suffer comes from the campaign side; Pret's statement doesn't address it directly.

What you can do

If farm animal welfare matters to you when you buy food, look up a company's published animal welfare report and check whether it gives dates and progress figures, not only promises. You can sign or follow the petitions run by named organizations such as Anima and Animal Equality, and ask any café or supermarket you use which chicken standard it follows.

Sources