High-end cruelty at UK luxury stores

In 2008 we achieved partial success when one of London’s leading luxury lifestyle stores – Fortnum & Mason in London’s Piccadilly – ended the sale of foie gras made from the livers of force-fed ducks. This came after Viva! staged a protest outside the luxury store.

The following year in 2009, upmarket shop, Harvey Nichols, also made the decision to go foie gras free after being contacted.

Viva! also persuaded supermarket chain Lidl and wholesalers Makro to remove foie gras from sale. In 2007, House of Fraser bowed to public pressure and permanently removed the product from sale.

However, despite knowing the cruelty that it causes, Fortnum & Mason continue to sell foie gras from force-fed geese. Just like ducks, geese are force-fed several times a day until their livers swell to ten times their natural size.

Upmarket store Harrods, too, continues to sell both duck and goose foie gras from tortured birds. How can this be allowed to happen in the 21st century?

Tell Fortnum & Mason and Harrods that this is not acceptable and demand that they stop selling foie gras immediately

Fortnum & Mason

Post: Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, London W1A 1ER

Phone: 020 7734 8040

Email: Use this webform to contact them.

Review: Trustpilot or Tripadvisor

Harrods

Phone: +44 (0)20 7730 1234

Email: customer.service@harrods.com

Review: Trustpilot or Tripadvisor

Example email/letter

Dear Madam/Sir

I was very disappointed to find out that you are currently selling foie gras – and I respectfully ask that you remove it at once.

Foie gras is the grossly enlarged liver of a duck or goose and is essentially a disease, marketed as a delicacy. Birds raised for this ‘gourmet’ cruelty are force-fed enormous quantities of food through a long metal pipe, three times a day. This process of deliberate and painful overfeeding continues for up to a month by which time the birds’ livers have swelled to ten times their normal size. Force-feeding results in the premature deaths of around 1 million birds in France every year.

Foie gras is not produced in Britain, as the Government has made it clear that its production would contravene existing animal welfare regulations, but sadly it is still perfectly legal to import it. Its production has been outlawed in Poland, Denmark, Germany, Norway and Israel.

All major supermarkets and other upmarket stores such as Harvey Nichols and House of Fraser, plus the biggest online retailer – Amazon – have removed foie gras from sale due to the horrendous nature of its production.

Please follow their lead and terminate foie gras from your shelves.

Yours faithfully

[Enter name]

Example review

I am shocked that a company so highly esteemed as yourself continues to serve a product as cruel and outdated as foie gras. Foie gras is the grossly enlarged liver of a duck or goose and is essentially a disease, marketed as a delicacy. Birds raised for this ‘gourmet’ cruelty are force-fed enormous quantities of food through a long metal pipe, three times a day. This process of deliberate and painful overfeeding continues for up to a month by which time the birds’ livers have swelled to ten times their normal size.

All major supermarkets and other upmarket stores such as Harvey Nichols and House of Fraser, plus the biggest online retailer – Amazon – have removed foie gras from sale due to the horrendous nature of its production.

The fact that you continue to endorse this practice by serving foie gras in your store is deplorable. I will continue to boycott your shop and encourage others to do the same until you remove foie gras from your shelves.

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