Glovedawg

Some people simply don't care about anything other than price, can these methods lead to the same competitive pricing we currently have in the market?

I think your dramatically overestimate the amount of people who truly care about the animals welfare over price. The market for cheap meat is massive because a lot of people simply couldn't afford to buy at any higher price. Of course people with the means would probably pick the brand with better animal welfare policy but I think you could alienate lower income customers if tackling the current high cost isn't near the top of your agenda. Animal welfare is all good in my books but not at the expense of low income families.

But you stop targeting the 'well off' when legislation comes into it. Yeah I'm all for animal welfare and the sort but if it's being forced upon business who's target market is those for lower income situations, then it becomes a problem. Also religious groups are exempt from this as they can kill animals as their scripture sees fit.

What matters is the final price to the consumer, I'm not trying to get rid of any legislation, I just don't want any forced on companies with low income target markets. Regardless if there is subsidies, the price is what people are looking at in deciding. Lowest offer wins, it's not up to the consumer to pay more to make things fair.