Egg Tracker Finds More Companies Report Cage-Free Progress
Egg Tracker Finds More Companies Report Cage-Free Progress
(Bloomberg) -- As eggs from hens that don’t live in cages become commonplace, more retail and restaurant giants, including McDonald’s Corp. and Walmart Inc., are reporting progress on cage-free egg commitments to the public.
Hundreds of companies in the U.S. have vowed to source only eggs from hens that aren’t kept in cages by 2026 or sooner. Compassion in World Farming is tracking 128 of these companies and found 51 are publicly reporting their progress, more than ever before, according to a report by the advocacy group. The companies being tracked represent 79% of the future cage-free market.
Americans are demanding transparency in the way their food is produced, and eggs have been a leading issue, with consumers wanting better treatment for birds. Most hens live in the confines of what are called battery cages, where they have 67 square inches of room, about the size of a sheet of paper. Cage-free eggs come from hens raised in barns, where they have space to turn around and stretch their wings, as well as places to perch, scratch, nest and take dust baths.
Some companies have already made the transition. Barilla Group, the pasta maker, fulfilled its cage-free commitments this year -- earlier than its 2020 goal. McDonald’s and Walmart reported their cage-free progress for the first time. Walmart is 14% cage-free, while McDonald’s is 33%. Both of the market giants have said they would be 100% cage-free by 2025.
As of July 2019, about one-fifth of the U.S. laying-hen flock are cage-free, or about 67 million birds. That’s more than double the number from around three years ago, according to the report. However, to meet all the commitments from various companies, that number will have to double again in the next six years or so. Around 142 million more hens will have to come out of their cages, the report said.
But the cage-free expansion is alive and well. Earlier this summer, prices for eggs plunged because of a glut because so many new cage-free operations came online.
“We are expanding cage-free production like crazy, but we’re not taking caged production offline,” said John Brunnquell, president of Egg Innovations, headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana. “It’s been a tough summer for the entire industry and it was all driven by this conversion of the industry to cage-free.”
Several states are also passing laws that either ban or put limits on conventional cages. Notably, the whole West Coast of the U.S. is going cage-free, with requirements that all eggs sold in California, Washington and Oregon will come from cage-free operations. The Humane Society has been championing the movement.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lydia Mulvany in Chicago at lmulvany2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Attwood at jattwood3@bloomberg.net
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