The parent companies of Avara Foods and Moy Park – Cargill and JBS – are no strangers to environmental controversies. Indeed, lawyers in the forthcoming legal case against Cargill will argue that the company knew of the potential consequences of industrial-scale chicken farming because of similar legal challenges in the US.
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In one instance, after being sued by the city of Tulsa, Cargill along with other companies settled out of court, agreeing to pay a combined $7.5m with no admission of liability. They argued that their contracted growers were responsible for managing waste from their farms. In another, in Oklahoma, the companies again denied liability and the case is ongoing.

Yet this was apparently ignored as the corporate playbook was rolled out to spur the expansion of intensive chicken production in Herefordshire. Similarly, Pilgrim’s Pride, JBS’s US-based poultry producer, has previously faced questions from shareholders relating to potential water pollution connected to its chicken supply chains stateside.

Always the ones you most suspect. Cliché for a reason.