Gressingham

Bringing Christian values to factory farming and mass slaughter since 1971.

Status

Gressingham is renowned for keeping ducks in appalling factory-farm conditions where animals become stranded on their backs and are grabbed and swung by their necks.

Gressingham is a feel-good family business that does its bit for charity, kills 10 million ducks and 800,000 turkeys a year,¹ and rather strangely, refers to itself as “the remarkable duck people”.² Yes, we’re confused too. Founded by Maurice Buchanan, described as a man of “great Christian faith”,³ and now run by his sons, it won’t surprise you to learn that the welfare of the birds is their “absolute priority.”⁴ One look inside a Gressingham Farm shed, however, and you may be forgiven for thinking that any such claim is utter duckshit. A second look at the cash they have thrown at marketing in the last year and the resultant 27% sales growth⁵ may convince you that their “absolute priority” is, in fact, a big old money-grubbing profit. Ah, such lovely Christian values.

Headquarters:

Diss, Suffolk

Founded:

1971

Revenue:

£174 million

Supplies

Violations

Animal Cruelty ^#7

In 2019, ducklings were filmed stuck on their backs, crying out and “clearly in great distress” at a Gressingham farm. Many other birds were found to be lame.⁶

Gressingham refuses to give these aquatic birds water to swim in, even though it is essential for their health.⁷ Birds were found living in a sodden barn because they were so desperate for water to preen in that they threw the little water they had over themselves.⁸

Birds were found abandoned on the floor like trash after having their necks broken by workers.⁹

Artificial lighting was kept on for a 47-hour period in violation of guidelines which state that ducks should have at least a six-hour period of darkness through the night.¹⁰ This is so they can get some rest, but if you leave the lights on, they eat more, so they weigh more and… you know what that means? That's right. Bigger birds mean bigger profits.

A previous investigation at another of Gressingham’s farms revealed workers swinging live ducks by their necks to force other ducks to move.¹¹

At Gressingham’s slaughterhouse, a 2020 investigation revealed birds being roughly grabbed by workers and dragged from crates by their heads, necks, and wings.¹² Workers even used live ducks to hit pieces of torn-off feet from the slaughterhouse shackles,¹³ which is disgusting on so many levels.¹⁴

At its most recent audit (December 2023), Gressingham’s Norfolk slaughterhouse was found to be in breach of three animal welfare regulations, including not preventing avoidable pain and suffering.¹⁵ Just imagine how bad things are when there is no auditor there.

Community Impacts ^#1

Gressingham has been at the centre of multiple bird flu outbreaks, including one linked to its importation of ducklings infected with the H5N1 virus.¹⁶ According to WHO data, H5N1 has historically had a fatality rate of around 50% in confirmed human cases,¹⁷ making outbreaks at farms like Gressingham’s a risk to the community and beyond.

Dubious Business ^#1

Gressingham Director, Geoff Buchanan, admitted to eight offences relating to moving and storing infected carcasses.¹⁸ We say “storing” but it seems the infected birds’ carcasses were just chucked in a skip.¹⁹

Food Safety ^#1

At its latest audit (December 2023), the company failed eight health and hygiene requirements, which included contamination breaches and not storing blood, guts, and offal safely.²⁰

Worst Practices

Empty Promises

They Say...

The ducks are reared free-to-roam in light, airy barns with access to water for bathing, natural light and fresh air. They have a fresh bedding of straw once per day and continuous feed and fresh water throughout the day. The welfare of our ducks, geese and turkeys is an absolute priority.²¹

We Say…

How lovely that the birds get to roam freely on lame legs around the overcrowded, sodden-floored environment of an industrial factory farm. Mind your feet there, little pals! Watch out for decomposing dead birds! We bet their wild cousins bobbing about on a lake in the sunshine are green with envy.

Operations

Breeding

Gressingham has bred birds that are crossed between Pekin ducks and the same wild mallards we feed at our local park.

Supplies

Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons²², Waitrose, Co-op, Amazon Fresh, Ocado, Budgens, and Booths.²³

Company Expansion

In recent years, Gressingham Group has bought out other meat producers including Peter Thompson Group, Manor Farm Ducks, Reids and JF Edwards,²⁴ as well as foodservice supplier, Central Foods.²⁵