Most companies meet 2020 pledge to ban caged eggs

Data released in a new report from the Open Wing Alliance (OWA) found that 85% of all corporate cage-free commitments to remove cages from their supply chains by 2020 had been met. The OWA, which is made up of 78 animal protection organisations in 63 companies, said the results were impressive, building on the momentum in the US, where 9 states have passed laws to end battery cages and in the EU, where the European Parliament has voted to support a ban of cages.

Publicly report

Alexandria Beck, OWA director, said the next step was for companies to publicly report on their progress towards their cage-free goal: “Despite the egg industry resisting the cage-free trend for years, our report shows that cages are going to be history sooner rather than later. Companies are setting a new industry standard for corporate animal welfare in every major market worldwide,” she said. Just 5% of companies who made the pledge are not yet full cage-free but are publicly reporting on their progress. A further 10% are not yet publicly reporting on the status of their transition.

The report comes as a global cage-free campaign is underway against parent company Yum Brands, that owns KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, WingStreet and The Habit Burger Grill, urging it to commit to sourcing 100% cage-free eggs and egg products.

The report found that a complete transition to cage-free supply has been seen across industry sectors:

• 317 restaurants
• 212 manufacturers
• 131 retailers
• 92 foodservice and caterers
• 62 hospitality companies
• 39 producers
• 10 distributors
• 1 wholesaler