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VIDEO. Lidl or Carrefour: where is it better to buy your chicken?

2022-04-08T08:03:16.190Z


FOOD CHECKING. If you buy your chicken in a supermarket, you may be wondering if certain brands have better prices.


Sébastien grabs a chicken and gently squeezes it in his hands to show it to us.

"It's a poultry of the Redbro breed, explains the breeder, based near Vichy (Allier).

It is one of the breeds defined by the charter.

" The chart ?

That of the "European chicken commitment" (ECC, which could be translated as "European commitment on chicken"), a text signed in 2017 by the vast majority of European retail chains in order to guarantee a minimum standard of well- be for poultry sold under their brands.

Sébastien (who does not want his last name to be published) supplies Carrefour and converted to the new standards only four months ago.

Since: goodbye to the high growth hens of the Ross strain and hello to the Redbro!

“She develops fewer pathologies,” explains the professional.

Find all the episodes of our video series “Food Checking”

To align with the new standards, he also cut 22 windows in the facade of his large chicken coop.

The carpentry is visibly brand new.

"Until now, the animals were only lit by artificial light," he says, pointing to the lights still hanging from the ceiling.

“We also lowered the density from 20 to 14 chickens per square meter… but with an equivalent level of loads.

Normally, this should be reflected in the selling price to the consumer.

It's give-and-take.

»

Chickens scrutinized by L214

These poultry can be found in stores, in plastic, with the Carrefour Classic stamp.

But let's face it: they are still rare on the shelves and if the distributor's communication department had not directed us, we would have had a lot of trouble finding them.

“On the label, there is an insert entitled “Animal welfare level” with a note “C” for “fairly well”, specifies Hélène Gauche, of the L214 association, in charge of relations with the agri-food companies, when he is shown the chicken.

Carrefour and Casino are among the good students in terms of communication on their progress regarding the European chicken commitment.

»

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To date, the signatories are in fact not required to apply their “commitments”: they still have until 2026 to comply.

On the Carrefour site, the page explaining the approach points to an annual report.

We learn that, in 2021, 39.5% of the chickens sold at Carrefour complied with these new European standards.

“This reporting is mandatory and is part of the rules to which the signatories are subject, continues Hélène Gauche.

However, we have no news from Lidl and Aldi.

“We contacted Lidl who did not answer us.

“When there is no information, it's a rather bad sign, testifies Hélène Gauche, when she is shown a classic chicken from the L'Étal du Poulier brand, from the Lidl distributor.

A priori, we can assume that it comes from intensive breeding.

»

To find your way around the labels

In the meantime, if you want to opt for a chicken raised in good conditions, you can rely on two labels: the Label rouge and the organic.

Lidl, just like Carrefour, offers "organic free-range chicken" under its brand "L'Étal du Poulier".

“Here, the “animal welfare level” is “A”: this means that the animals have access to the outside and are raised in a density of 10 chickens maximum per m².

The chicken feed itself is organically grown, preferably grown on the farm.

"If from the beginning the breeder considers well-being as an essential value, it is felt on the taste and the final texture", assures Mathis Devaux, executive chef of the well-named restaurant Le Coq & Fils, in Paris, whose the boss is none other than the great chef Antoine Westermann.

He is therefore presented with three poultry without revealing their breeding conditions.

"For me, it's the best," says the professional, pointing to the organic poultry fillets from Lidl.

The trunk is high.

We see that she is muscular and that she frolicked.

He then turns to the classic, still from Lidl: “This one is very different: it's wide, flat and slouched.

She was probably raised in battery.

»

After being blindfolded and mixing up the plates to blur his bearings, the chef tastes and classifies the three chickens.

Its preferences say a lot about the rearing conditions: the number 1 is the Lidl organic (8.95 € / kg), followed by the Carrefour Classic meeting the ECC criteria (4.19 € / kg) and the Ordinary Lidl whose breeding conditions are unknown (3.37 € / kg).

Excellent news for amateurs: raising poultry in better conditions will also make it taste better.

Source: leparis

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