Chickens served at Nando's will be fed on insects and algae under a trial scheme to cut carbon emissions.

The South African brand, which has 930 restaurants worldwide, wants to lower its reliance on soya-based chicken feed, the second biggest contributor to deforestation after the beef industry.

The trial is part of an ambitious plan for Nando's to cut its carbon emissions to net zero and halve the carbon footprint of its average meal over the next ten years.

“We are launching ambitious new commitments which will set a strong example for what our industry can do to make a genuine difference,” said Colin Hill, chief executive of Nando’s UK and Ireland, which has about 350 outlets.
Nando's wants to lower its reliance on soya-based chicken feed

He added that Nando’s would be the first in the restaurant sector to combine improvements in environmental sustainability with animal welfare.

It is something which is typically difficult to achieve as higher welfare animals live longer and therefore consume more feed, increasing their overall carbon footprint.

Environmentalists have long recommended insects as a sustainable food source that could help to reduce the impact of meat and soya production.

Video Loading

Insects contain essential minerals, amino acids and fats, and are easy for animals to digest. Producing 1kg of insect protein uses 2 percent of the land and 4 percent of the water associated with beef production, resulting in 96 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Nando's also plans to source all its gas from renewable sources by 2022.

Greenpeace, which last year released a report titled “Winging It: How the UK’s chicken habit is fuelling the climate and nature emergency”, is calling for businesses to halve the amount of meat they sell by 2025.

About 78m chickens were slaughtered last month in the UK, according to government statistics, a decline of 2.1 per cent on the same period last year as increasing numbers of consumers turn to meat alternatives.

Last week, the fast-food chain KFC announced it was working in collaboration with a Russian laboratory on the first 3D printed chicken nugget.