Supermarkets are increasingly using cut price meat in promotional campaigns, despite pressure to phase out the worst types of factory farming, pro-animal lobby group Wakker Dier said on Monday.

In July, August and September the seven big Dutch supermarket groups ran 745 special offers involving cheap meat, a rise of 38% on the same period a year ago, Wakker Dier said.

Since the beginning of this year, supermarkets have run 2,249 special offers involving factory farmed meat, the same as in 2014 as a whole. Most bargain offers are for pork, while the amount of special offers involving what the Dutch call plofkip (exploding chicken) doubled to 118.

The organisation expects a further rise in promotional campaigns in the run up to the holiday season.

There is some good news, however. The number of special offers involving meat produced under higher animal welfare standards doubled in the third quarter to 159. Organic meat was involved in 40 special offers, 35 of which were from the Plus supermarket group.