Will your supermarket lead the change for crustacean welfare this year?

Since decapod crustaceans were recognised as sentient in 2022, the seafood industry has faced growing pressure to improve welfare standards. The Snapshot benchmark tracks how supermarkets, suppliers and processors are responding, and the results show a race to the top, with some brands surging ahead and others falling behind. As the 2025 assessments begin, will your favourite retailer rise to the challenge or be left in the wake?

When decapod crustaceans were legally recognised as sentient in 2022, this heralded a huge step towards better welfare for these vulnerable aquatic animals. However, for the food industry and animal welfare advocates alike, there was very little information publicly available about how crustaceans were currently treated in the supply chain. Without a baseline understanding of where the industry was and where it needed to be, it would be hard to forge a clear path towards a higher welfare future. 

By assessing the welfare policies of 30 UK food companies – including all major supermarkets – The Snapshot: Industry Benchmark on Decapod Welfare Standards set out to define, monitor and drive forward expectations for how crustaceans should be treated.  

Over the last three years, The Snapshot has shed light on how leading retailers, processors, producers and foodservice companies are responding to this vital welfare challenge. Now, as The Snapshot 2025 assessments get underway in September, we look forward to seeing more improvement, innovation and impact as consumers continue to demand more for decapods. 

The only way is up… overall scores rise from 14% to 40% 

When the benchmark report was first compiled in 2022, the overall average score across all companies stood at just 14% - by 2024, this had increased to 40%. The percentage of companies that published specific crustacean welfare policies rose from 50% in 2022 to 70% within two years. 

In 2024, more than two-thirds of businesses had improved their score since 2023 with some making huge gains to leapfrog rivals and race up the table. From the impact of capture methods through to humane stunning and slaughter, the number of companies making commitments to better welfare practices across the supply chain has surged upwards year on year.  

These results show that many food companies are taking crustacean welfare seriously and making visible, demonstrable moves to improve. With more companies having publicly shared new welfare policies and targets in the last 12 months, we expect to see the momentum continue to build in 2025. 

“We’re seeing a real shift in attitudes; companies are finally recognising that crustaceans deserve humane treatment and consumers expect to be able to buy high welfare products.” 

Corporate Engagement Advisor, Jane Bush 

Supermarkets go head-to-head with suppliers for top spot 

In our last report, seafood suppliers bucked the previous trend by outperforming retailers, based on overall average score across the sectors. Having led the score table since The Snapshot began, Marks & Spencer was now joined in the top tier by Young’s Seafood, with their scores separated by just one point. 

Since the last assessment, we’ve also seen supermarkets fight back to try and reclaim the lead in a race to the top. For example, prawn welfare has been in the news with Morrisons, the Co-op and Iceland pledging to eliminate eyestalk ablation and, along with Waitrose, switch to electrical stunning before slaughter. Aldi has also now stated it will work towards taking the same steps to improve welfare standards.

What’s changed since 2024? 

Last summer saw the release of long-awaited Codes of Practice for crustacean welfare developed by the seafood industry. Although, in Crustacean Compassion’s viewpoint, these Codes did not go far enough to demand humane treatment for crustaceans, they did acknowledge that electrical stunning is best practice for crabs and lobsters, and singled out claw nicking as a low-welfare practice. The Snapshot 2025 will reveal how much impact the new Codes have had on our benchmarked companies’ welfare policies. 

We already know that some forward-thinking seafood companies have already surpassed many of the Codes’ recommendations, with innovators rejecting inhumane old working practices in the hunt for more ethical alternatives. For example, an industry-led project to replace live tailing of nephrops (langoustines) at sea with groundbreaking new technology is moving ahead at pace. Meanwhile, an innovative new solution to claw nicking is being actively explored with the support of various seafood businesses and organisations. 

Poor performers will be left in rivals’ wake 

With the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) currently reviewing whether common crustacean slaughter practices – such as boiling alive, freezing and dismembering – violate animal welfare laws, the seafood industry is in a race against time to prove it can supply crustaceans without cruelty. 

While these positive developments are good news for crustacean welfare, growing momentum among their rivals will only turn up on the heat on those food businesses that are failing to move with the times.  

However, at the time of the last assessment, the worst performers included two major UK supermarkets – ASDA and ALDI – alongside global supplier Thai Union, which owns John West. As competitors surge ahead in the welfare stakes, companies such as these will be left facing awkward questions from their customers, along with empty shopping baskets. 

The Snapshot 2025 report will be published in early 2026 – watch this space to find out your favourite supermarket or food brand performs this time around. In the meantime, demand better welfare and choose brands that put ethics first.