What RSPCA Assured does

RSPCA Assured is a UK not-for-profit farm animal welfare assurance and certification scheme, operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RSPCA and registered as a charity in England and Wales (1059879) and Scotland (SCO38199). The scheme's core product is a certification mark: farms, abattoirs, processors, hauliers, poultry catching teams, and hatcheries apply for membership, undergo independent annual assessment against an average of 760 RSPCA welfare standards covering feed and water, housing, management and handling, health care, transport, and slaughter, and — on approval — may use the RSPCA Assured label on food packaging and menus. Underlying capabilities include annual on-farm assessments by trained assessors, unannounced spot checks for continuous compliance, suspension/withdrawal enforcement for non-compliance, and a digital membership portal for certificates and assessment reporting.

RSPCA Assured monetises the scheme through two streams: annual membership subscriptions tiered by species and scale (e.g., £142.80 up to 30,000 broilers, £299 up to 12,000 pullets/turkeys, £583.20 for well boats/aquaculture sites, £454.80 per slaughterhouse/processor site), plus transaction-based licence fees on certified products sold downstream (0.375% of value for meat/poultry/liquid egg; 5p per 30 dozen eggs; 2.5p per 20 litres milk; 0.875p per kilo of fish). The organisation receives no government or public funding and reinvests income into farmed animal welfare.

The scheme currently assesses more than 4,000 farms and businesses, with 1,800+ labelled products available across all nine major UK supermarket chains (Aldi, Co-op, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose) and in foodservice. Governance is provided by eight trustees, a chairperson, vice-chairperson, and four non-executives, and the scheme is operationally headquartered in Horsham, West Sussex. RSPCA Assured participates in DEFRA's Earned Recognition policy alongside other major UK assurance schemes, and was independently reviewed in 2024 (200 farms) with a finding that the scheme is 'operating effectively' to assure animal welfare.

Name

RSPCA Assured

Legal name

RSPCA Assured

Website

https://rspcaassured.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

RSPCA Assured is a UK not-for-profit certification scheme that independently assesses 4,000+ farms and supply chain businesses against 760+ RSPCA welfare standards, licensing producers to label products sold through all nine major UK supermarket chains.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Animal Welfare Certification

NAICS

Support Activities for Animal Production (11521)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Animal Welfare Auditing, Compliance & Certification Services (Non-testing Lab) (AFAEALAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Animal Welfare Certification Services (AFALAMAE), Regulatory, Certification & Compliance Veterinary Services (Health Papers, QA Programs) (AFACADAJ)

Keywords

• Farm animal welfare certification
• Welfare assurance scheme
• Farm certification standards
• Animal welfare labelling
• Food assurance scheme

Headquarters

HQ city

Horsham

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Producer membership fees: Annual membership and licence fees paid by producers, poultry catching teams, hauliers, abattoirs, processor/packers and hatchiers. Fee structure varies by animal type and farm size.
2. Licence fees from processors/packers: Processors and packers selling RSPCA Assured produce pay licence fees: 0.375% of value for meat, poultry and liquid egg; 5p per 30 dozen eggs; 2.5p per 20 litres milk; 0.875p per kilo for fish.
3. Not-for-profit scheme: RSPCA Assured is a not-for-profit charity funded entirely through the scheme, with income reinvested into farmed animal welfare. Receives no government or public funding.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels10 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

RSPCA Assured operates a not-for-profit farm animal welfare certification scheme that assesses farms, abattoirs, processors, hauliers, hatcheries and other supply chain businesses against RSPCA welfare standards covering the full animal lifecycle. Member farms and businesses that pass annual independent assessments and unannounced spot checks may apply the RSPCA Assured label to their meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish and other products, which are then sold through major UK supermarkets and foodservice outlets.

Product overview

RSPCA Assured is a not-for-profit farm animal welfare assurance scheme operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RSPCA. The core offering is a certification scheme that assesses farms and businesses against the RSPCA's higher welfare standards for farmed animals including chickens, laying hens, dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, pigs, turkeys, salmon, trout, ducks, and hatcheries. Farms and businesses undergo annual independent assessments against an average of 760 standards covering housing, feed, health, handling, transport, and slaughter. Certified members can use the RSPCA Assured label on their products. The scheme is funded entirely through membership fees and licence fees from scheme participants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• RSPCA Assured Certification Scheme Animal welfare assurance and certification scheme that assesses farms and businesses against the RSPCA's higher welfare standards for farmed animals, with members independently assessed annually to verify compliance with requirements covering housing, feed, health, handling, transport and slaughter.
• Farm Animal Welfare Standards Comprehensive proprietary welfare standards developed by the RSPCA covering chickens, laying hens, dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep, pigs, turkeys, salmon, trout, ducks and hatcheries, addressing feed and water provision, housing, management, health care, transport and humane slaughter.
• Farm Assessments Annual independent farm assessments conducted by trained assessors to verify compliance with RSPCA welfare standards, requiring members to meet an average of 760 individual standards, supplemented by unannounced spot checks for ongoing compliance verification.
• Membership Portal Online portal for RSPCA Assured members to access certificates, view site assessments, manage contacts and download reports, with single login per group membership.
• RSPCA Assured Label Certification label placed on food packaging and menus to indicate that farms and businesses have been independently assessed to the RSPCA's strict welfare standards, available on eggs, pork, chicken, salmon, beef, lamb, dairy, turkey and trout products.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4,000+ farms and businesses assessed against welfare standards
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• DEFRA and arms-length bodies (Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Natural England, Rural Payments Agency, Animal and Plant Health Agency)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRSPCA Assured participates in the UK Government's Earned Recognition policy alongside LEAF Marque, Red Tractor, Soil Association, and Organic Farmers and Growers. The policy allows farmers who are members of assurance schemes to potentially receive reduced farm inspections based on their verified compliance records. RSPCA Assured shares member data with DEFRA and its bodies to enable this benefit for members.
• RSPCAcoreOthersRSPCA Assured is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RSPCA. The RSPCA writes and owns the welfare standards that RSPCA Assured enforces. The RSPCA is legally a separate entity with its own privacy policy.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Quality Meat Scotland: Scotland's red meat assurance scheme covering welfare, quality, and origin. Comparable third-party farm assurance and consumer labelling model, but regionally focused on Scottish producers rather than competing head-to-head with RSPCA Assured across the rest of the UK.
• Label Rouge: French quality and welfare certification mark covering poultry, meat, and other farmed products. Uses a comparable third-party assessment-plus-label model but is anchored in the French market and does not directly overlap with RSPCA Assured's UK retailer shelf presence.
• Beter Leven: Dutch animal welfare certification scheme operated by the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals. Highly comparable three-tier welfare label model, but operates exclusively in the Netherlands rather than competing with RSPCA Assured in the UK.

Emerging players

• Animal Welfare Approved (A Greener World): US-originated farm animal welfare certification with growing international reach. Comparable as a science-based welfare assurance label using independent audits, but lacks RSPCA Assured's UK retailer concentration and consumer recognition.
• Certified Humane: International farm animal welfare certification programme operating across multiple species. Comparable third-party audit-and-label model targeting producers seeking higher-welfare credentials, but smaller and more internationally fragmented than RSPCA Assured.

Direct peers

• Pasture-Fed Livestock Association: UK certification body for pasture-raised ruminant livestock. Operates the same kind of membership, assessment, and product-labelling scheme as RSPCA Assured, targeting UK farms and retailers with a more narrowly defined welfare claim.
• Soil Association Certification: UK-based organic and welfare certification body. Operates the same third-party assurance model as RSPCA Assured, charging membership and licence fees to producers and certifying products that appear in major UK retailers.
• LEAF Marque: UK integrated farm assurance scheme covering environmental and welfare standards. Co-participates with RSPCA Assured in the DEFRA Earned Recognition policy and uses a near-identical membership-and-assessment model for farms supplying major retailers.
• Red Tractor Assurance: The UK's largest farm assurance scheme covering food safety, traceability, and animal welfare across species. Directly comparable to RSPCA Assured as a UK farm certification body, though it is broader in scope (food safety plus welfare) and is the default baseline for major UK retailers.
• British Egg Industry Council (Lion Code): UK egg industry assurance scheme covering laying hen welfare, food safety, and traceability. Directly comparable as a species-specific, RSPCA Assured-adjacent certification mark used by the same major UK retailers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rspcaassured
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCDbnCMz89Ce6JO92BkK5d7Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/RSPCAAssured
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rspcaassured
• Instagraminstagram.com/rspcaassured_official
• Pinterestpinterest.co.uk/RSPCAAssured

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RSPCA Assured