03/10/2026
A new investigation has found that just 15 companies control nearly half of Europe's chicken meat market, and only one of them is farmer-owned.
The AGtivist investigation shows a highly consolidated industry where farmers carry the financial risk but have almost no say in how their birds are raised. Many are locked into long-term contracts and take on large debts to build farming systems that meet company demands, leaving them with little power to influence their own production methods.
This setup runs counter to the European Commission's Vision on Agriculture and Food and its Strategy on Livestock, both of which emphasize farmer agency as key to bringing new generations into the industry. In reality, non-farmer-owned companies control market access and dictate production specifications, meaning farmers may own their land but companies make the real decisions, usually prioritizing cost-effectiveness and maximum output.
That drive for cheap, fast chicken meat comes at a steep cost to the animals themselves. Around 90% of meat chickens in the EU are raised in intensive systems, kept at high stocking densities and bred to reach slaughter weight within weeks. These conditions can lead to serious welfare problems, including lameness, heart failure, metabolic disorders and heat stress.
The investigation also points to wider costs tied to this consolidation, though the specific details were not outlined in the summary.
These findings build on a separate 2025 investigation that found the EU is now home to more than 10,800 intensive chicken meat farms, a number that has been steadily climbing over the past decade.
The narrative of small, family-run farms unable to afford better systems doesn't hold up here. Large, well-resourced companies dominate this market, and they clearly have the capital to invest in more ethical and sustainable farming if they chose to.
The findings raise serious concerns about an industry built around maximizing output, where only a handful of companies benefit while billions of animals are treated as commodities, farmers are trapped in restrictive contracts, and labor rights are put at risk.
Eurogroup for Animals says that if the EU wants a genuinely future-proof food system, it needs to confront the structure of this industry, not just its output numbers. The group is calling on the European Commission to revise the EU Broiler Directive as part of upcoming animal welfare legislation, with meat chicken welfare kept separate from laying hen policy.
Their asks include lower stocking densities, a shift toward slower-growing, higher welfare breeds, and access to natural light and enrichment for these animals.
