More companies than ever are making global commitments towards cage-free production, according to the sixth annual EggTrack report by Compassion in World Farming.
The report, which tracks the progress of major food businesses against their cage-free egg commitments, shows that more companies have made global pledges during the last year.
The expansion of commitments beyond regional policies is strongly encouraged by the animal welfare and environmental NGO, and some of these companies include Pizza Express, Yum! Brands, Bloomin’ Brands and more.
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Of the 232 companies in the 2022 EggTrack report, 175 (75.4%) now report progress towards their cage-free commitments, an increase from 71% in 2021, with an average 79.1% transition to cage-free.
As for companies that reported global progress, cage-free sourcing increased by an average of 7.9 percentage points from 55.2% in 2021 to 63.1% in 2022.
In the UK 64% of eggs are now cage-free and the decline in caged eggs produced in the UK (down 35%) is accompanied by an increase of 59% in free-range production.
One company that has successfully achieved 100% cage-free production throughout its global business and which provides this year’s Foreword for the EggTrack report, is multi-national food company Danone.
“Danone has been working on animal welfare for many years, embedding it as a key pilar of its regenerative agriculture strategy,” global farming expertise manager at Danone, Cees Jan Hollander said.
“When we took our commitment to cage-free eggs and egg ingredients in 2018, we knew it wouldn’t happen overnight and that we would need to work closely with our suppliers. But we persisted and reached our target of 100% cage-free eggs and egg ingredients in 2020.
“Tracking and reporting our progress are important ways to hold ourselves accountable inside and outside our company, answering consumers and investors’ growing demand for transparency and improvement, via benchmarks like the Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW).
“What’s exciting is that thanks to tracking from Compassion in World Farming, we can see that cage-free eggs are swiftly becoming the industry standard.”
Global director for food business at Compassion, Dr Tracey Jones, also gave her thoughts: “It’s fantastic to see an increase in global commitments from leading companies who are showing a reasonable transition to cage free.
She added: “EggTrack is an important tool in ensuring this progress continues, helping to drive transition and compliance. But going forward, companies must address all egg categories in their commitments and ensure the cage-free systems they transition into are fit for purpose.
“Cage-free production is a smart investment, as increasing consumer and corporate demand will only accelerate this global trend.”
The news comes as shoppers are to pay up to 50% more for eggs now than at the start of the year amid reported shortages in the supply chain due to avian flu.
