Workers Kicked and Punched Cows at Award-Winning Tesco and Müller Dairy

Workers at an award-winning Essex dairy that supplies Tesco and Müller were filmed kicking cows in the face, punching and slapping the animals and stubbing out a cigarette on a cow's face, in undercover footage that has prompted sackings and an immediate suspension from Britain's supermarket supply chains.

Animal Cruelty Investigation: Workers Kicked and Punched Cows at Award-Winning Tesco and Müller Dairy

Essex, UK — The Independent has revealed footage of severe animal cruelty at Albyns Farm near Loughton, an award-winning Crown Estate dairy supplying two of Britain's biggest food names. Several staff have been dismissed and the farm suspended by both Tesco and Müller while investigations continue.

The Undercover Investigation and Footage Details

Hidden cameras installed by animal activist and filmmaker Joey Carbstrong recorded more than two hours of footage at Albyns Farm near Loughton in Essex, revealing workers kicking cows in the face, punching and slapping them, and prodding animals with sharp goads. The material, captured across three days in 2024 and again earlier this year, showed staff kicking cows in their legs, backsides, underbellies and udder areas, as well as hitting them in their udders and bottoms.

One clip showed a worker kicking a cow in the jaw four times. In another, a man appeared to stub out a cigarette on an animal's face. Further sequences captured staff chasing cows, twisting their tails and yelling at them in an apparent attempt to intimidate the animals into moving. In an artificial-insemination rack, cows were seen panicking as they tried to free their heads, restrained between bars at the neck.

The footage documented day-to-day handling that an animal-welfare expert later said inflicted widespread avoidable harm. It was first shown by The Independent to the farm's owners and to Müller, and formed the basis for the suspensions that followed.

Albyns Farm and Its Supply Relationships

Albyns Farm, operated by Curtismill Holsteins and located on Crown Estate land near Loughton, maintains a herd of around 700 dairy cows. The farm belongs to the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group and sells 40 per cent of its milk to yoghurt giant Müller. It has previously won farming awards and supplies both Tesco stores and the dairy processor.

Those commercial relationships proved decisive. Within days of the footage being presented to the companies, both Tesco and Müller suspended the farm from their supply networks pending investigation. The Crown Estate, which owns the land but is not involved in day-to-day farm management, is understood to be looking into the abuse.

Albyns' position within established UK dairy procurement networks highlights how a single farm's conduct can ripple through the supply chains of Britain's largest food retailers.

Expert Analysis of Animal Distress

Jenny Mace, a visiting scholar at the University of St Andrews, reviewed the footage and documented at least 600 instances in which workers inflicted avoidable pain and distress on the animals. In her report, she wrote that the cows would have experienced "increased levels of fear, distress, and pain from injury (or risk of injury)" and "avoidable and unnecessary increased levels of distress and discomfort".

Ms Mace said excessive use of force was commonplace. Most of the cows filmed had distended udders, and several slipped on floors while being forced to move. She recorded indicators of pain and distress including flinching, running in fright, bellowing, leg kicks and escape attempts, and noted that a cow unable to stand was lifted with a tractor and hoist while calves were routinely dragged by one leg from their mothers shortly after birth — a practice widely considered to cause distress to both.

Her report also flagged the handling of tails, which are densely packed with nerves and are banned from being handled under government slaughterhouse guidance, and described a "general uncaring/intimidating attitude" among staff. One worker, she said, gratuitously burnt a cow's face with a cigarette; another lit a cigarette as he casually kicked a cow, despite smoking being hazardous in the workplace.

Supplier Responses and Staff Dismissals

Several staff members were sacked after The Independent showed the footage to the dairy bosses and to Müller. A spokesperson for Curtismill Holsteins said the family farming business was "extremely disappointed" to see footage showing staff behaviour that was "completely unacceptable", and announced a full independent investigation, an external animal-welfare audit, supplementary CCTV and increased staff training.

Müller said it was "appalled" by the footage, describing the behaviour as "entirely unacceptable" and "fundamentally in breach of the high standards of animal health and welfare which we require every supplying farm to uphold". The company confirmed the employees at fault had been dismissed with immediate effect, that corrective actions had been implemented, and that the farm remained subject to ongoing monitoring and assurance checks. "We have zero tolerance for animal cruelty or poor welfare standards," it said.

Tesco said it takes animal welfare "extremely seriously" and expects all farmers to adhere to its high welfare standards, confirming the farm had been suspended with immediate effect pending a thorough investigation. "Any failure to meet our high welfare standards is unacceptable and we take swift action where necessary," a spokesperson said. The farm's owners said they were determined to ensure such scenes would not happen again.

How the Investigation Unfolded

The hidden cameras were set up by Joey Carbstrong, an animal activist and filmmaker whose footage formed the basis of the investigation. At Albyns Farm, more than an hour of footage was taken over three days in 2024, and a further hour was shot earlier this year, giving investigators a picture of handling practices sustained across more than a year.

When The Independent presented the material to the farm's owners and to Müller, the response was immediate. Staff at fault were dismissed, corrective actions were implemented, and both Tesco and Müller moved to suspend the farm while their own investigations proceeded. The Crown Estate, on whose land the farm sits, is understood to be examining the footage as well, although it plays no part in the farm's day-to-day management.

What the Footage Means for UK Dairy

The Albyns Farm case shows how undercover evidence obtained by independent activists can trigger rapid commercial consequences across a major British supply chain. The documented practices — tail twisting, sharp goads, cigarette burns and routine rough handling — sit in direct contrast to the welfare standards that Tesco and Müller publicly require of every supplying farm.

For consumers, the episode raises questions about how effectively supermarket assurance schemes detect poor welfare between audits. Albyns Farm was a member of the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group and had previously won farming awards, yet the behaviour captured on camera continued across two separate filming periods, suggesting routine practice rather than isolated incidents.

Retailers and processors will now watch whether the additional CCTV, external audits and training commitments made by Curtismill Holsteins produce lasting change, and whether similar scrutiny is applied across the thousands of dairy farms that supply the UK's national supermarkets. The case also underlines the role of external reviews and hidden-camera investigations in holding supply chains to account where routine assurance checks have failed to do so. For the animals at Albyns Farm, the cameras arrived too late to prevent the suffering — but the suspensions and dismissals that followed suggest the footage has already changed how two of Britain's biggest dairy buyers respond to abuse in their supply chains.

By Erica Thornton, Staff Writer

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Reporting is based on sources cited in the article.