Lincolnshire-based Cherry Valley, the UK's largest duck manufacturer, has been recognised for its continued commitment to duck welfare with a Freedom Foods Accreditation.

Cherry Valley's Farm Fresh Duck brand passed the stringent welfare criteria set out by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in the Freedom Food scheme, which was set up to improve welfare standards and address consumer demand for higher welfare produce.

Passionate about the quality of the ducks it produces, Cherry Valley promotes excellence every step of the way by looking after the welfare of its ducks and the environment they grow in so customers can be satisfied they are receiving the best cared for produce. Developed through 50 years of experience and unique farming heritage, the company is achieving this through:

• giving Farm Fresh ducks access to verandas from the barns in which they live so they are free to come and go as they please
• having purpose built pools of water on the verandas so that the ducks can wade, preen and paddle
• keeping the ducks' drinking water separate in the barns along with the feed, that contains locally sourced wheat, and
• laying fresh straw for Farm Fresh ducks on a daily basis and supplying it back to the farms to use as a natural fertiliser.

Eric Jagger, sales and marketing director at Cherry Valley, said: "We are delighted to have achieved the Freedom Foods Accreditation. Cherry Valley is a company dedicated to welfare standards and we are continuously looking for way to improve our methods and ways of working in order to produce the best cared for ducks.

"We are now able to display the Freedom Food logo officially on our Farm Fresh duck packaging and web site so our customers and consumers can be assured of the quality and welfare Cherry Valley stands for."