Animal Welfare

Animal Welfare

Our Commitment

Animal welfare

At Lidl GB, we work hard to ensure that all animals in our supply chain live a good life. We do this through a wide range of actions, and our partnerships with organisations like Red Tractor and RSPCA Assured.

We’re proud of the strong relationships with British suppliers that we’ve cultivated through our lean buying practices. Importantly, championing British farming means that we can provide products with leading welfare standards, at an affordable price.

 

Our approach

five freedoms video

Learn more about our approach to animal welfare below.

The five freedoms

The five freedoms principle established by the Farm Animal Welfare Council underpins all of our work on this topic. To learn more, watch the video from Scotland's Rural College, where Emma Baxter, Senior Researcher explains what this means for animals in our supply chain.

Purchasing animal-based products responsibly

Many of our own-brand products contain raw materials that come from animals. We expect our suppliers to maintain high animal welfare standards throughout the production process. This includes ensuring access to pasture or outdoor areas for animals, in addition to meeting certain transport and ethical slaughtering requirements.

Increasing our free range offer

We’re sourcing more of our shell eggs and egg ingredients from cage-free hens. Learn more below.

 

 

    

Progress on shell eggs

Figures based on number of shell eggs sold.  

*From 22/23 onwards Lidl GB realigned its egg reporting to its financial year timeframe, which led to a slight increase in the total coverage of cage free eggs. This step was taken to align its reporting approach with wider sustainability KPIs.

Progress made on egg as an ingredient

Figures in the above table are based on the proportion of our products that contain egg as an ingredient. Figures for both shell egg and egg as an ingredient will be updated in Q2 next financial year.

Free range eggs

Ensuring our eggs adhere to third-party standards

All the eggs we sell are produced under the Lion assurance scheme and carry the British Lion mark. Alongside this, some products also have ‘higher welfare’ certifications including RSPCA Assured and Organic.  Customers can learn more about how our hens are raised, through our industry-leading 'Welfare Windows,' which showcase the various methods used to rear animals in our supply chain. These windows adhere to third-party assurance standards such as RSPCA Assured and Organic. To find out more about our Method of Production Labelling, please see here.

White eggs

Transitioning our shell eggs to free-range and organic by 2025

We announced in 2022 that 100% of our shell eggs would transition entirely to a free-range and organic offering. This transition will be completed in 2025, reinforcing our commitment to the welfare and conditions in which hens are housed. In addition to our ambitious commitments, Lidl is one of the first retailers to roll out white eggs across all stores in the UK, helping producers by utilising more productive and environmentally friendly birds.

    

Increasing animal welfare standards

We’re proud to promote and implement husbandry conditions that go beyond industry standards, working closely with our suppliers. Read more about some of our projects below.

To learn about our dairy supply chain in particular, please click here.

Labelling

We’re committed to being transparent about how our animals are looked after, so that our shoppers can make conscious, informed purchasing decisions. Learn more below.

    

More steps we're taking on animal welfare

To find out more, read our latest 'Good Food' sustainability report: Lidl Great Britain

Our goals

By 2025

Have robust animal welfare action plans in place for six key categories, being delivered against for each of our primary proteins.

By 2025

Sell 100% of our eggs from cage-free hens. Ensure that our free-range organic eggs are RSPCA Assured.

By 2025

Increase the space allocated to our own-label fresh chickens by 20% above the industry standard, elevating the wellbeing for these animals. Reduce the maximum stocking density to 30kg/sqm.

Our partners

We’re proud to partner and engage in dialogue with our suppliers as well as Red Tractor, RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), WWF and the NFU on how best to improve animal welfare in our supply chain.