Source: MEATINGPLACE, 5/4/16

Companies including Whole Foods Market Inc., Starbucks Corp. and Bon Appetit Management Co. are pushing suppliers to switch to slower-growing chicken breeds, but a transition could take years because of limited supply, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Whole Foods in March announced it intends to replace all of its chicken with slower-growing breeds in the next eight years to support a commitment to improve chicken welfare and provide customers with products of the highest quality and flavor.

The National Chicken Council told Meatingplace it strongly supports consumer choice, but cautioned that one production system should not be vilified at the expense of another.

Breeding company executives questioned whether consumers will be willing to pay more for slow-growing chicken, which cost anywhere from 20 percent to three times more than conventional chicken, according to the Journal.

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