Compassion in World Farming has been campaigning for over 50 years to rid farming of all forms of cages – so the last few weeks have been incredibly exciting. In quick succession, a plethora of cage-free egg commitments were made in the UK by major retailers Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Morrisons, Lidl, Iceland and Spar, as well as Booker who owns Premier, Londis and Budgens convenience stores.
The speed with which these announcements were made demonstrates the power of market shift when forward thinking brands lead the way and act as a catalyst for change. With the seismic shift in UK retail there will be no option but for UK food service companies to follow suit: both the weight of consumer expectation, and the nature of supply, is shifting. International food service firm, Sodexo, is leading the way with their announcement to source only cage free eggs (both shell and liquid) globally by 2025. Their move begs the question of other contract caterers: What’s stopping you?
Whilst the majority of non-consumer facing food service companies have yet to make the shift, there is undoubtedly a groundswell of support for cage-free eggs among consumer facing brands. Pub chains Greene King and Mitchell & Butlers were among the latest to receive a Good Egg Award from Compassion this year for committing to going cage-free on whole eggs. Long-time leaders in this sector include McDonald’s, Pret and Subway who are free-range not just on their whole eggs, but on every single egg ingredient served in their UK stores.
Abbie Gregory, CSR Director at EIPC (the purchasing consortium for SUBWAY®) said: “We made our decision to go cage-free back in 2007 and we’re proud to have been at the vanguard of the movement. Today we are completely cage-free on all our whole and ingredient egg across our entire European operation. Getting buy-in from all our stakeholders was pivotal and having support and recognition from 3rd party organisations like Compassion underpinned our conviction that this was the right thing to do, both for our business and the welfare of the hens.”
Until all food companies make a complete transition to cage-free egg ingredients on a global scale, millions of hens will still be reared in enriched cages. This means they spend their entire lives closely confined, standing on wire mesh floors, unable to perform some of their most basic natural behaviours, and may never see the light of day. All laying hens should be cage-free, living in rich, stimulating environments to allow them to perform behaviours such as wing-flapping, perching, foraging and dust bathing.
Compassion is calling on the food service sector to make clear policy commitments across their entire egg supply. Lots of popular eateries already offer cage-free egg sandwiches, or a pizza with a free-range egg on top. But what about the eggs in their cakes, omelettes or pasta? Consumers want to be able to trust that their favourite restaurant or café has done the right thing and know that any menu choice they make is a cage-free one. Transparent policies and clear communication are needed to give this reassurance. Making the cage-free move for a food service chain can be a complex business – but as McDonald’s, Pret and Subway (among others) have shown, it can be done.
The final piece of the jigsaw is for egg producers to find solutions to meet the cage free commitments of retailers and food service companies, and to ensure their own businesses are able to thrive in a cage-free world. Compassion recognizes the complexities involved in shifting supply and will continue to support food companies and their egg suppliers to implement production system changes that will offer the hens a good quality of life in stimulating cage-free environments.
Dr Tracey Jones, Director of Food Business, Compassion in World Farming said: “It is without doubt a time of major change for laying hen welfare in the UK and across the world; the hope that a cage-free day will dawn in modern egg production looks increasingly feasible but no one can afford to be complacent. There is still much to be done to encourage businesses, especially in the food service sector, to go cage-free on whole eggs and for companies to use cage-free egg ingredient too. As more and more companies banish caged eggs from their shelves or from their kitchens, and consumer pressure grows, those yet to make a pledge should ask themselves the question – can they really afford NOT to adopt a cage-free future?”