RSPCA Assured has unveiled a major brand refresh and announced a landmark ambition to ensure 50% of all UK farmed animals are reared to higher welfare standards by 2050.
The UK farmed animal welfare assurance scheme’s new refreshed identity, which will begin rollout from this month before fully launching by October 2027, includes a new-look label designed to make it easier for shoppers to identify higher-welfare products across meat, fish, eggs and dairy.
“Our fresh new look symbolises much more than a rebrand – it’s a statement of intent,” said RSPCA Assured executive director Toby Baker.
“We want to make higher welfare the norm, not the exception, and by 2050 we’re determined that more than half of the UK’s farmed animals will be living better lives under the RSPCA’s welfare standards.”
The rebrand follows new consumer research by the organisation that shows, in 2024 alone, more than 34 million terrestrial animals and 30 million salmon lived better lives under the scheme’s standards.
Currently, around 26% of UK farmed animals, including salmon, are covered by the RSPCA Assured scheme. The organisation’s new impact report outlines plans to increase that figure to 36% by 2030.
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Meanwhile, the data also revealed 62% of UK shoppers would pay more for higher-welfare labelled products, including RSPCA Assured, free-range and organic, rather than opt for cheaper alternatives.
“We have a fresh new look and feel, but the same mission,” Baker added. “With the support of farmers, businesses and shoppers, we’ll continue to grow until higher welfare becomes the standard for all farmed animals.”
The rebrand comes a mere year after the business was thrown into scandal when then RSPCA vice president, Queen legend Brian May, quit over “damning evidence” of animal welfare failings at ‘RSPCA Assured’-certified farms.
Following allegations of poor hygiene and physical abuse of livestock by farm workers on over 40 certified farms, vice president May said he had “no other option” but to step down, and called for the scheme to be scrapped.
Later that month, Veganuary co-founder Matthew Glover launched a tube advertising campaign criticising the RSPCA Assured label, accusing it of “welfare washing”.
However, in response a RSPCA Assured spokesperson said: “RSPCA Assured has been independently proven to improve the lives of millions of animals every year and this advert grossly misrepresents this vital work. We are requesting that Transport for London remove it from the tube network immediately to avoid further misleading passengers.
