March to End Frankenchicken: UK Animal Protection Movement Unites at Pret’s Head Office

On Monday, Trafalgar Square became the gathering ground for a landmark moment in UK animal advocacy: the first-ever March to End Frankenchicken.

Carrying a massive, 400-metre-long physical petition displaying the names of over 100,000 people who have pledged to take a break from Pret over the past few months, several hundred campaigners marched it through the heart of London straight to Pret A Manger’s head office in Victoria.

Watch the incredible footage here.

This week nine major animal protection organisations—including Anima, Humane World for Animals UK, Animal Equality UK, The Humane League UK, and FOUR PAWS UK—have come together to speak with one unified voice. Alongside the march, the coalition of groups published an open letter to Pret’s CEO in full-page adverts across seven national and London newspapers, as representatives called on Pret to act in a large rally outside their head office.

Leading the demonstration was NHS GP, TV doctor and author Dr Amir Khan, who called out the chain for putting profits ahead of animal welfare:

"Companies like Pret need to put animal welfare above profit and honour their promise to do better for frankenchickens. Over 100,000 people have pledged to take a break from Pret until they do the right thing, and I stand in solidarity with them and with factory farmed chickens that suffer."

The March in Pictures

The reality behind Pret’s polished marketing

Pret has long cultivated an ethical high-street brand. But behind the marketing slogans lies a harsh reality: the chicken sold in Pret sandwiches and baguettes comes from fast-growing breeds known as "frankenchickens."

Bred to balloon to slaughter weight in 35 days - growing five times faster than chickens in the 1950s - millions of these birds suffer from agonising lameness, heart failure, and painful ammonia burns from collapsing in their own waste.

However, new polling reveals a majority of their customers mistakenly believe they’re buying chickens raised to high welfare standards,* and over 40% mistakenly believe the chickens are free range or organic.**

As Connor Jackson, Chief Executive of Anima, stated:

"Pret’s customers are being conned by empty promises. Every day people eat at Pret with expectations of high animal welfare, and yet behind their polished marketing, frankenchickens are collapsing in their own waste from leg disorders and heart failure."

The price of a broken promise

In 2018, Pret publicly committed to eliminate fast-growing frankenchickens from its supply chain by 20266. Yet years later, the company’s own reporting shows zero per cent progress on transitioning to slower-growing breeds.

Campaigners speak outside Pret A Manger’s Victoria head office, highlighting the company’s 0% progress on its 2018 welfare pledge.

Claire Bass, Senior Director of Campaigns and Public Affairs at Humane World for Animals, added:

"More than 100,000 people and nine animal charities have sent a clear message that we want faster and firmer progress on chicken welfare at Pret. While Pret has made commitments, the company is waiting too long to turn them into action. We are joining Anima in calling on Pret to match its commitments with action and start moving away from Frankenchickens now, not in five or six years’ time. One of Pret’s core values is ‘doing the right thing’, and quickly ending completely avoidable suffering of millions of birds will be a powerful and popular way to put that value into practice."

A new economic analysis by Development Economics—a leading firm that has produced reports for Barclays, McDonald’s, and the National Farmers' Union—estimates that customer boycotts could cost Pret £3 million in lost revenue in the first year alone.

Act now: take a break from Pret

Pret has the power to spare millions of birds from suffering. They will act if customers and the public hold them accountable to their promises.

Join over 100,000 people taking a stand: Pledge to take a break from Pret until they end frankenchicken cruelty at breakfrompret.com.

*Poll: Censuswide, 2000 UK adults, October 2026. ”Free range”, “Organic” and “RSPCA Assured” answers combined. **”Free range” and “Organic” answers combined.