Consumer perception of broiler production

Animal welfare is an increasingly important factor in the purchasing decisions of consumers (Napolitano et al., 2010), sustained despite the prevailing recession (IGD, 2011). Recent surveys indicate almost half of UK consumers surveyed rated animal welfare as either ‘very important’ or ‘extremely important’ (IGD, 2011), whilst 76% (Defra, 2011) and 85% (Conan et al., 2010) rated welfare as ‘an important’ issue. In fact farm animal welfare was rated the single most important sustainability related food issue for British consumers (IGD, 2011; Defra, 2011), above health or safety concerns. Over 70% of US citizens surveyed also reported ‘concern’ for farm animal welfare (Norwood and Lusk, 2011). Broilers were identified amongst the three animal systems most in need of animal welfare improvements by EU citizens (European Commission, 2005).