A charity is attending the Tesco AGM today to call on the retailer to stop its Thai subsidiary sourcing pork from farms that keep mother pigs in sow stalls.
Tesco Lotus, the group's second largest business outside UK, has been accused of using sow stalls in Thailand.
The practice has been banned in the UK since 1999.
Campaigners are demanding Tesco to introduce a global pig welfare policy to stop the 'barbaric practice' on farms that supply its stores worldwide.
The supermarket giant has already acknowledged it needs to act on pig welfare.
It said it will explore with suppliers how to get mother pigs out of cages in Thailand that supply its Tesco Lotus store with pork products.
However, World Animal Protection, the charity attending the retailer's AGM today (13 June), is asking Tesco to make a public commitment and set a deadline for when Tesco Lotus will no longer buy pork from farms that use sow stalls.
Ian Woodhurst, of World Animal Protection, said: “We are at the AGM today asking the Board of Tesco when they will make a commitment.
“Tesco’s annual report states they offer the same ethical standards across their product ranges, but this is clearly not the case.
“£100 million more profit is made in Tesco’s operation in Asia compared with Europe. So why should a mother pig have to suffer under the Tesco brand just because she’s been born and raised in Thailand?”
Tesco Lotus operates a network of more than 2,000 stores across Thailand.
