Poultry Industry Programme chair and broiler producer James Mottershead (pictured second from left, above) shares his experiences from the visit.
He writes:
The situation in the Netherlands is different to the UK. They currently produce more poultry meat than they consume. This has made it easier for the broiler sector to embrace slower-growing concepts, compared with the UK. They had the capacity and floor space to reduce stocking density and lengthen the growth cycles without causing a domestic market shortage.
The Beter Leven 1-star concept, established in 2007, uses an even slower growing breed than the Hubbard JA787. The Beter Leven 1-star system grows Hubbard JA757 to a maximum growth rate of 45g/day, and a maximum stocking density of 25kg/m2. Producers are also required to include a winter garden in the shed. This is essentially a covered roaming area with natural ventilation and light that equates to a maximum of 25% of the total floor area.
Dutch farm examples
The first farm we visited grew BCC-type broilers – Hubbard JA787 to 49 days of age, at a stocking density of 30kg/m2. The sheds were a modern clear span design with walls made from concrete panels from the floor to the eaves of the shed, with windows in the eaves running down both sides. The shed also had a heat exchanger and the atmosphere was a comfortable dry environment. Litter was dry and friable, and the birds were active, gently moving out of my way as I walked around the shed. Ventilation was via side inlets with tunnel ventilation and an ammonia scrubber. It smelled like a normal chicken shed would before depletion, but, outside, the air was fresh and there was no odour whatsoever. If you were wearing a blindfold you would not know you were on a chicken site. I left the farm impressed.
The second farm was a modern broiler shed. However, it had a retrofitted winter garden attached to produce Beter Leven 1-star. The birds were 15 days old and hadn’t accessed the winter garden yet, though it was set up with fresh shavings on the floor and perch bales.
We saw the Hubbard JA757 birds from the viewing gallery. The breed is more common in free range production in the UK, but here the birds were grown to a maximum average daily growth rate of 45g/day to a minimum of 56 days, stocked at around 10.5 birds/m2 (maximum 25kg/m2). You have to put in bales of straw for enrichment and sprinkle whole grain (2g per bird) on the floor to enable the birds to scratch and peck it off the floor. At the time, this system represented 20% of the retail market.
The final farm we saw was a shed design that I had never seen before. It is called the Windstreek house and was built brand new for the Beter Leven 1-star and had a modern, lean-to design with Perspex along one side of the shed and climbing frames built on winches. To me, this was how you build new poultry sheds: an impressive design that was built to grow standard broilers, BCC broilers or Beter Leven 1-star broilers – and I started considering my options for back home.
Dutch retail examples
We visited a local Jumbo supermarket store, as well as a Lidl, and I was amazed at the range of poultry and added value products.
The previous month, at the NFU poultry board meeting in Westminster, Lidl UK spoke to us about its new labelling plans. To see it implemented in a Boxmeer store brought it to life. The label described the method of production and it was simple to understand. It felt like quite the contrast to Red Tractor labels for Certified Standards or Enhanced Welfare – there was no need to get your phone out to see what meant what.
I found it particularly interesting to see a chicken salad being sold that contained Beter Leven 1-star chicken. This is something you would not find in the UK, where pre-made salads often use chicken from countries such as Thailand.
Taste test
Dutch Poultry Farmers Association chair Eric Hubers joined us for a blind taste test between a conventional broiler, a chicken reared to the BCC and a Beter Leven 1-star.
Each chicken was cooked for the same time on the same tray. I could not tell the difference between the three types of chicken. They all tasted the same, to me. The only thing that gave it away was the size in leg bones and the Beter Leven 1-star had a more golden skin colour when cooked.
In the UK
The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t stopped the relentless bombarding of supermarkets by NGOs to stock 100% BCC chicken.
Morrisons is set to run a trial of selling BCC chickens, using the Hubbard Redbro breed. It is a new breed of chicken that’s designed to exceed BCC requirements while efficiently producing a more uniform product to meet customer requirements.
In the Netherlands, not content with 100% BCC-type chicken meat in Dutch supermarkets, NGOs have convinced retailers to move to the Beter Leven 1-star production system as their baseline product. This means all chicken meat producers for retailers will have to retrofit winter gardens, growing at a maximum of 25kg/m2 and an average of 45 grams per day by 2023.
This currently represents 20% of the Dutch broiler market but since Albert Heijn, Lidl, Jumbo Plus and Aldi have all committed, this market share will now account for 80% of all broiler meat sales. The percentage of slower growing chicken in the Netherlands will move to around 55% and export sales of higher welfare chicken may further increase that percentage. Dutch farmers will need to invest in their farms to build these new winter gardens to gain contracts with the processors, who are currently offering five-year contracts to cover the investment.
In the UK, 25% of the UK poultry supply chain is signed up to the BCC. With planning permission for poultry becoming harder to obtain, I see this as a market opportunity for existing producers going forwards.
I’d like to give huge thanks to Paul and Patrick for allowing us to walk the process. It was a highly informative trip and something I still relate to more than a year on.