Chicken bald back

[The Dogmother]

Yes, Hazel go for it. I used to be married to a journalist

 

S'funny, so did I!

[Old Speckled Hen]

Yes, Hazel go for it. I used to be married to a journalist

 

S'funny, so did I!

 

What a coincidence!

Mine drank himself to death but he did leave me with a wonderful daughter.

[Guest]

It's up to you but I'd think carefully first. Sainsbury is one of the supermarkets taking a lead in the animal welfare field and the person concerned could have made a genuine mistake and didn't intend to deliberately mislead you.

 

I might probably take it further within the company first, perhaps write to the MD/chairman whoever that is, (not sure if it's still Justin or not, I've written to him before and you do get a personal response), before going to the press.

[Guest]

here you go, take your pick

 

http://www.jsainsburys.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=81

 

I wrote to Justin King, it was about a home delivery issue.

 

Like I say, it's up to you how you choose to follow it up.

 

xxxx

[Leicester_H]

here you go, take your pick

http://www.jsainsburys.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=81

I wrote to Justin King, it was about a home delivery issue.

Thanks, I'll do that.

H

[chelsea]

It's up to you but I'd think carefully first. Sainsbury is one of the supermarkets taking a lead in the animal welfare field and the person concerned could have made a genuine mistake and didn't intend to deliberately mislead you.

 

I might probably take it further within the company first, perhaps write to the MD/chairman whoever that is, (not sure if it's still Justin or not, I've written to him before and you do get a personal response), before going to the press.

 

 

I agree with Poet to maybe go above the persons head to their boss before going to the papers so that they can be advised on product ingredients properly, and then maybe review your further action after....

 

I am however annoyed that the 1st response you got said their TTD range contained free range chicken when I knew for a fact it didnt and I dont even work for Sainsburys!! so there is some major communication problems behind the scenes and it needs to be addressed.

[kitchens]

I don't believe it either. It would ABSOLUTELY DEFINATELY be on the label. It would be something for them to boast about. No question

[Guest]

...

I am however annoyed that the 1st response you got said their TTD range contained free range chicken when I knew for a fact it didnt and I dont even work for Sainsburys!! so there is some major communication problems behind the scenes and it needs to be addressed.

 

 

I agree with that!

[Leicester_H]

Hi

Just sent this email FOA Justin King (via customer services as couldn't easily find his direct email - I assume they wouldn't dare NOT pass it on to him ??)

 

Dear Justin King,

 

I recently emailed Customer.Service@sainsburys.co.uk about free range chicken in Sainsbury’s ready meals, as follows

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Like a lot of people, we only eat free range chicken - which we can buy fresh from Sainsbury's, which is GREAT. However, if we're pushed for time, we sometimes buy ready meals (Indian, Chinese, Thai whatever) - but our choice is severely limited as none state the source of the chicken and so we don't buy them. Are any of your prepared meals make from FREE RANGE chicken ?

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I received the following reply

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Thank you for your email. It’s great to read your positive comments about our free range chicken. I understand you’d like to know which of our ready meals contains free range chicken as it doesn’t state it on the packaging.

We’re always pleased to provide our customers with any information they require, wherever possible. I can confirm all our Taste the Difference ready meals contain free range chicken.

I appreciate the time you’ve taken to contact us and I do hope this information is useful to you.

Kind regards, Daniel Jessop, Customer Manager [THREAD ID:1-3KE15B]

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I was pleased to hear this and relayed the information to some fellow Chicken keepers via a forum. This produced some debate and so I emailed again to double check as follows

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So your TTD range contain ONLY FREE RANGE Chicken ?

Why don't the labels state the Chicken is free range?

See example below…………………………..

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I was then disappointed to receive this reply

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Thank you for your further email. Please accept my apologies that my colleague misinformed you in our previous reply.

All our own label fresh ready meals, including Taste the Difference, are made with British chicken which is reared to the Assured Chicken Production Standard as a minimum. This farm assurance standard is designed to make sure that nationally agreed standards of food safety, traceability, chicken diet, health and welfare are maintained throughout the food chain.

We’re looking to increase the proportion of free range chicken in our meals, despite the shortage of accredited farms in the UK who could satisfy our customers’ demand. Our sales of higher welfare chicken have risen by more than 20% since last year and our buyers will continue to source more accredited suppliers when they are available. Once a product has been certified as using free range chicken, it’ll be stated clearly on the packaging.

We know that animal welfare is a subject which is very important to our customers. If you’d like more information on our sourcing policies, please visit our website at http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/cr .

Thank you again for giving me the chance to explain our current position.

Kind regards, David Richards, Customer Manager, [THREAD ID:1-3KE15B]

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I think it is completely unacceptable to be told, so definitively, that products contain Free Range Chicken when they don’t.

Since I took the trouble to email in and ask (putting FREE RANGE in upper case for emphasis), it was clearly very important to me. Customers should n’t have to ask the same question multiple times in order to get accurate information.

Was the first reply a deliberate attempt to mislead or are there some major communication problems at Sainsbury’s that need to be addressed? Either way, it’s not a satisfactory situation for such a major/’trusted’ supermarket to be in.

 

I would be very interested in your comments and would like to know what actions you intend to take to remedy the situation.

 

I look forward to your speedy reply,

 

Lets see if he replies

[The Dogmother]

*stands up*

 

Good for you!

 

Methinks the first indiviual will be 'sent for training'

 

Seriously though, apart from a major lack of training and communication, it is (deliberately or not) very misleading and I daresay that Trading Standards would be very interested in what they have to say.

[Guest]

the cust svc manager will probably reply.

 

if you ring 020 7695 6000 and ask for Justin's PA's e-mail address then he will definitely see it, if you ask for him to read it that is.

[Leicester_H]

the cust svc manager will probably reply.

if you ring 020 7695 6000 and ask for Justin's PA's e-mail address then he will definitely see it, if you ask for him to read it that is.

Thanks Poet - copy of email has now been sent to Justin.King@Sainsburys.co.uk.

Will keep you all informed,

H

[Leicester_H]

Had reply

Thank you for your email. I’m sorry that we’ve sent you conflicting information about the chicken we use in our ready meals.

 

I can confirm that the information we sent you in our first response was incorrect. All of our ready meals, whether Taste the difference or otherwise, contain British chicken reared to the assured chicken standard as a minimum, as my colleague David Richards detailed in our last response.

 

I appreciate it’s disappointing that you were given the wrong information but I can assure you that it certainly wasn’t our intention to mislead you. I’ve shared your comments with Jacki Connor, our Director of Customer Service. It’s unacceptable that this has happened and she’s taken it very seriously. We must always respond to customers with the correct information on every issue.

 

I’m grateful that you’ve taken the time to contact me so we can make sure this doesn’t happen to any other customers.

Yours sincerely

Justin King

Chief Executive

[Martin B]

Well done.

[Guest]

good!

[Tiggy]

well done

[Leicester_H]

well done

Thanks but not really.

I was hoping that they would see the demand for free range chicken products and would have been more supportive - if only to promise to look into producing some in the future.

H