For more information and performance please read our full Animal Health and Welfare and Antibiotic Stewardship reports.
As a UK retailer, we’re proud to support British producers. As well as boosting the national economy we’re reducing food transport miles. We’ve built strong relationships through our UK Farmer and Grower Development Groups and are working with these suppliers to develop a more resilient and sustainable British agricultural industry.
How we care for specific species
Our commitment to dairy quality and welfare
We have been working with the farms in our Dairy Development Group since 2007, and have built long-standing relationships with the farmers, improving cow health and productivity while ensuring fair pricing. Since the group began, cow health and productivity performance has been significantly improved, and farms now produce a litre of milk more efficiently.
We use qualified, independent vets that specialise in dairy to audit the farms that supply our by Sainsbury’s milk. These audits verify health and welfare outcomes to ensure compliance with our policies. Any farmers who do not meet our standards are removed from our supply chain, and this protocol for removing non-compliant farms is documented clearly in our Code of Practice.
Our dairy farms demonstrate high levels of cow comfort, assessed by specialist vets and through Qualitative Behavioural Assessments (QBA) to evaluate cow emotion and behaviour. We monitor a comprehensive set of KPIs monthly, using our dairy welfare database to track performance and share best practices. Top-performing farms receive bonuses, and we drive improvements through collaboration and innovation.
Our SO Organic milk comes from cows raised under Soil Association standards. These cows graze outdoors for at least 180 days per year and are housed in bright, airy barns during winter. Organic farms must demonstrate measurable improvements in health and welfare through natural diets and low stocking rates. All are certified to both organic and Red Tractor standards.
All our British cheese is Red Tractor certified. We work closely with suppliers to improve welfare, including our major Cheddar supplier’s Sustainability Pledge. This includes commitments to grazing access for at least 120 days per year, antibiotic usage monitoring, and a guarantee against on-farm euthanasia of healthy animals.
Our commitment to Beef quality and welfare
All our fresh and frozen beef is 100% British or Irish, meeting Red Tractor or Bord Bia standards. Our organic beef also complies with Soil Association or equivalent standards.
We ensure full traceability by sourcing through trusted suppliers and limiting animal movements to reduce stress.
We work closely with UK beef farmers through tailored Farmer Development Groups and our Integrated Beef Scheme, which produces high quality beef with a reduced environmental impact.
100% of cows and calves are free from close confinement such as tethering or veal crates.
100% of cows and calves are free from routine tail docking
Monitoring health, welfare and animal handling
We track key health and welfare indicators monthly across all beef suppliers using our industry-leading beef health and welfare database. This helps us identify and share best practice to drive continuous improvement.
All abattoirs meet or exceed Red Tractor standards. Staff are trained and certified in humane handling, and vets inspect all animals on arrival. Our cows and calves are never tethered or tail docked.
Our commitment to chicken quality and welfare
All our fresh and frozen chicken is 100% British and certified by an independent third party from hatch to slaughter. We’ve made significant strides in animal welfare, including providing birds with natural light and enrichment, eliminating the use of critically important antibiotics, and ensuring humane slaughter practices. We continue to work closely with our suppliers to improve health and welfare outcome KPIs and drive continuous improvement.
We are one of the UK’s largest retailers of higher welfare chicken.
Since 2004, we’ve offered RSPCA Assured chicken, and today all our Taste the Difference chicken meets this standard. All our ingredient chicken is independently certified from hatch to slaughter. British ingredient chicken is Red Tractor assured, meeting the same standards as our fresh and frozen products.
We monitor a comprehensive suite of KPIs monthly across all fresh and frozen chicken suppliers. Our animal welfare team uses an industry-leading database to track performance and share best practices. We are committed to continuous improvement through collaboration and innovation.
- 100% of birds are provided with environmental enrichment
- 100% of birds are provided with natural light via windows or outdoor access
- 100% of birds are provided with environmental enrichment
Our improved chicken welfare
In March 2023, we partnered with Moy Park to introduce enhanced welfare standards for our by Sainsbury’s chickens. These birds now benefit from 20% more space than the industry standard and enriched environments that include perches, pecking objects, and bales encouraging natural behaviours and improving overall wellbeing.
We’re also trialling AI and thermal imaging technologies to assess bird behaviour and feather cover in real time, helping us refine our approach even further.
Together with Moy Park, we’re measuring the carbon footprint of our chicken supply chain and targeting reductions starting with a shift to deforestation-free soy feed as part of our UK Soy Manifesto pledge. This collaboration ensures we deliver higher welfare chicken without compromising on value, while also advancing our sustainability goals.
Our commitment to lamb quality and welfare
All our fresh and frozen British lamb is reared to Red Tractor standards, with organic lamb meeting Soil Association or equivalent standards. We ensure full traceability by sourcing through trusted suppliers and not using livestock markets.
We collaborate with UK lamb farmers through an annual Flock Health Management Survey to identify best practices and innovation opportunities. As well as through our Taste the Difference Group, involving over 900 Welsh farmers who receive bonuses for high standards and data sharing.
100% of lambs from both the UK and New Zealand are free from mulesing.
Monitoring health, welfare and animal handling
We track key health and welfare indicators monthly using our industry-leading database. In 2023, 16% of farms avoided tail docking and 58% avoided castration (sample: 363 farms). We aim to reduce, refine, and replace these practices where possible.
All abattoirs meet or exceed Red Tractor standards. Staff are trained and certified in humane handling, and vets inspect all animals on arrival to ensure welfare and food safety.
Our commitment to pork quality and welfare
We are proud to be one of the UK’s largest retailers of higher welfare pork and remain committed to offering products our customers trust. Since introducing RSPCA Assured pork in 2008, all our Taste the Difference pork now meets this standard.
Our by Sainsbury’s fresh and frozen pork, sausages, and ham are 100% British and sourced from Red Tractor certified farms. Breeding sows are never confined in sow stalls during gestation and are housed in groups to encourage natural behaviours.
Our Taste the Difference pork is 100% British, outdoor bred, and RSPCA Assured. Sows live outdoors throughout their lives and give birth in individual huts. Piglets remain outdoors until weaning and are then moved to spacious straw barns. Routine castration, teeth clipping, and tail docking are not practiced in this supply chain.
- 100% of UK pigs are provided with environmental enrichment
- 100% of UK pigs are free from castration
Monitoring health, welfare and animal handling
We monitor a comprehensive set of health and welfare KPIs monthly across all our British pork suppliers. Our industry-leading pork welfare database helps us track performance and share best practices. Through our Pork Development Group, we work with trusted farmers who supply our fresh pork. Since 2015, they have shared extensive data, enabling benchmarking and continuous improvement. This collaboration has led to better farm productivity, reduced antibiotic use, and the elimination of critically important antibiotics like Colistin since 2017.
All our British ingredient pork is Red Tractor assured and meets the same high standards as our other British products. Ingredient pork from the EU is also certified to Red Tractor-equivalent standards. Castration is permitted under EU norms, but we advise the use of anaesthesia or immunocastration where appropriate.
Our Commitment to Other Species: Turkey, Duck and Venison
We are committed to high welfare standards across all our animal protein supply chains. Whether it’s turkey, duck, goose, or venison, all our fresh and frozen products are 100% British and certified by independent third parties. Across these species, birds and animals are free from close confinement, provided with environmental enrichment, and reared in systems that support natural behaviours. We monitor welfare outcomes closely and work with trusted suppliers to drive continuous improvement through innovation, responsible antibiotic use, and humane slaughter practices.
Turkey
All our fresh and whole frozen turkey is 100% British and independently certified from hatch to slaughter. Our by Sainsbury’s turkeys are reared to Red Tractor standards in enriched barns, while our Taste the Difference range includes free-range Bronze and Norfolk Black turkeys reared to RSPCA Assured standards. Our So Organic turkeys meet Soil Association standards, with outdoor access and organic diets.
We’ve recently expanded our welfare monitoring with a dedicated turkey KPI database and continue to work with suppliers to improve outcomes. All turkeys are slaughtered using inert gas or CAS methods, avoiding live handling and inversion.
Duck
Our fresh and frozen duck is 100% British and Red Tractor assured from parent flocks through to slaughter. Ducks are reared in a “brood and move” system, transitioning from brooding to naturally lit, enriched housing with access to fresh water for preening. Beak trimming is not practiced, and all ducks are free from cages or multi-tier systems.
Ducks are slaughtered using pre-stun methods, with welfare monitored through CCTV and monthly KPI reviews. Ingredient duck is held to the same standards, whether sourced in the UK or abroad.
Venison
Our venison is 100% British and sourced from either wild Scottish estates or traditional parkland. Wild deer roam freely and are managed by trained professionals under the Scottish Quality Wild Venison Scheme. Park deer graze on natural forage-based diets in open pastures. No confinement or velveting is practiced.
All venison is processed without transport, ensuring minimal stress and maximum welfare.
Working in Partnership
One of the most important ways we are making progress in sourcing is working more closely with our suppliers, farmers and growers, both in the UK and overseas. We have a variety of partnerships and initiatives:
Working in Partnership with our Farmers and Growers
We have farmer and grower development groups covering our main agriculture and horticulture value chains. The groups enable us to work in partnership with our farmers helping them become more resilient, sustainable and profitable whilst producing great quality meat, dairy, poultry and produce reared or grown in the way our customers would expect.
Meeting regularly with the Sainsbury’s team, the groups give our farmers a voice and a place to discuss challenges and opportunities together so we can come up with solutions that work for everyone “farm to fork”.
We are working on a project with a produce supplier to increase soil biology in onion and salad crops as a natural way to prevent disease.
Knowledge Sharing through our Development and Grower Groups
We facilitate training and access to industry experts, e.g. vets for our Development Group Farmers. Examples include water quality workshops for our poultry farmers, calf care workshops for our dairy farmers and Crop Action Groups across a variety of crop types.
We hold action groups multiple times a year with our high environmental impact suppliers to knowledge share and explore opportunities to collaborate to promote supply chain resilience and improve sustainability.