Chickens come home to roost for Tesco as TV chief leads AGM protest

The celebrity TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall lost the vote to make Tesco amend its animal welfare policy but succeeded in getting chickens to dominate the agenda at the retail giant's annual meeting yesterday in Birmingham.

Tesco also passed the microphone to other pressure groups – including Care for the Wild International, which is campaigning on humane treatment of turtles at its stores in China, and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union – but the plethora of questions on chickens ruled the roost.

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Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall claimed a moral victory after nearly 10 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of his resolution. He said: "We got a very significant showing with 9.88 per cent and with abstentions it is bound to be over 10 per cent – and Tesco cannot ignore that." However, before the vote he had been aiming to secure a vote in favour of about 20 per cent, including abstentions.

He said: "The campaign has achieved a great deal." More specifically, he said that Tesco has made some "significant changes" such as upgrading some elements of its production to more ethical practices.

In a passionate speech during the AGM, Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall said: "My problem with Tesco's welfare policy on chicken is that at least 75 per cent they sell is from the intensive poultry product industry." However, Tesco's chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, vigorously rebutted the allegations, including that some of Tesco's chicken production does not meet standards set by the Government department Defra.

Sir Terry said: "We are not below Defra standards. The Government sets the standards in this country. I think it would be wrong to conduct these discussions on the basis that Tesco is pursuing unacceptable practices. I do not think it helpful to these discussions to hurl unsubstantiated discussions on to the floor because we will just hurl them back."

Tesco said it would work with Defra to organise a forum to discuss chicken welfare issues.

Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall said: "I am disappointed that Tesco feels it is not their responsibility to make changes but to put it on the Government to do this." He declined to say whether he would come back to Tesco's AGM next year or buy shares in other supermarkets to protest at their shareholder meetings.

However, by the end of the AGM, some ordinary shareholders stuffed full of questions about chickens began slow hand-clapping and shouting vociferously, "No, no, no" and "Enough is enough". David Chettle, a 60-year old from Leicestershire, said: "I think as the chairman [David Reid] said, there were people there with their own agenda and not to do with shareholders." But Mr Chettle admitted that he had come to the AGM to hear the debate about chicken welfare.

Barbara Maas, chief executive of Care for the Wild International, urged Tesco to stop selling turtles and bullfrogs at its stores in China. She claimed: "Seventy five per cent of turtles in Asia are threatened with extinction." Tesco said it was not aware of the scientific research she was referring to.

The UFCW union again asked Tesco to commit to dialogue with it over the employment rights of workers at Tesco's Fresh & Easy convenience chain in the US. Mr Reid did not seem to hold out much hope when he said: "You'll have to leave that with us." But Jim McLaughlin, president of UFCW Local in Arizona, said: "I do hope the response is a positive and speedy one in favour of dialogue."

On the subject of The Guardian newspaper's allegations about tax, Sir Terry said: "Tesco is not a tax avoider. We are one of the largest tax payers. We pay more than £1bn to the Government. The Guardian has accused us of major tax avoidance on some property transactions. That will either be settled by them producing a satisfactory apology or the courts sorting it out."

The Tesco board also answered questions on subjects including the remuneration of Tesco's non-executive directors, debt levels on the balance sheet and local queries such as the noise generated by deliveries to Tesco Express stores.

Ultimately, however, it was chickens that accounted for more than a quarter of the 20-plus questions from the floor. But not everyone was crowing like Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall. Mr A J Fox , 74, from Birmingham, said: "There was too much about chickens. I like to know how the company is working. I had not realised they had gone into South Korea."