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Compassion’s global EggTrack shows the progress the world's largest food businesses are making towards their voluntary cage-free egg commitments across different regions (Global, US, Europe and Asia-Pacific).

EggTrack celebrates these commitments and promotes transparency in the market by encouraging companies to report year-on-year progress on their transition to cage-free eggs, as the real impact for laying hens comes only when companies fulfil their commitments.

The online tracker and annual report continue to measures progress, inspires improvement, and showcases industry leaders in the race towards 100% cage-free eggs.  By highlighting both successes and shortcomings, EggTrack encourages transparency and motivates companies to stay on track with their cage-free goals.

EggTrack 2023

EggTrack 2023 monitors the progress of 715 cage-free commitments made by 444 companies, with 511 (71%) reporting on progress, and an average 75% transition to cage-free.

Nine companies, including Delaware North, Associated British Foods and Norwegian Cruise Line, made new global cage-free commitments, and The Hershey Company reached its goal of becoming 100% cage free globally since our last report. Of the 88 global commitments, 56% are reporting against these commitments.

Seven companies reached their goal of being cage free at either global, regional or national level: The Hershey Company (who achieved global cage-free status), Gruppo Eurovo (Italy), KFC (Europe), Kraft Heinz Company, CVS, Walgreens (USA) and Burger King (Australia & New Zealand).

79 of the companies in EggTrack 2023 operate globally, 274 operate in Europe (including the UK), 134 companies operate in the USA and 23 operate in APAC. They straddle all sectors with 51 manufacturers, 195 retailers & meal kit providers, 111 restaurants, 13 producers and 74 food service and hospitality companies represented.

This year, more companies are expanding their commitments and increasingly reporting across all egg categories. Twenty-one companies have issued clear statements against the use of combination systems within their supply chain including Domino’s Pizza Group PLC (UK and IRL), Bidfood (UK), E.Leclerc and Mercadona. 

Read more of this year's highlights below.

EggTrack

Find out the results of the latest EggTrack

Read the full report here
EggTrack

The companies

Review the company and sector progress in this year’s Global EggTrack

Check the progress here
The companies

EggTrack - 2023 highlights

EggTrack - 2023 highlights

Global highlights

  • Of the 88 global commitments, 56% are reporting against those commitments, with an average 64% transition to cage-free eggs
  • 9 companies made new global cage-free commitments: Associated British Foods PLC, Bakkavor Group PLC, Brinker International Inc, CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc, Dairy Queen, Delaware North, McCormick & Company, Norwegian Cruise Line and The JM Smucker Company.
  • Of the 79 companies with global commitments:
    • 5 are from the Retailers & Meal Kit sector, with an average transition of 72%
    • 34 are from the Restaurants sector, with an average transition of 70%
    • 21 are from the Manufacturers sector, with an average transition of 69%
    • 19 are from the Food Service & Hospitality sector, with an average transition of 51%
  • The Hershey Company has reached its goal of becoming 100% cage free globally since our last report.
  • Average transition for companies featured in both EggTrack 2022 and EggTrack 2023 with global commitments increased by 6.9%

EggTrack - 2023 highlights

European highlights

  • Of the 440 European commitments, 75% are reporting against those commitments, with an average 80% transition to cage-free eggs
  • 1 company, Bakkavor Group plc, made a new European cage-free commitment.
    • Of the 274 companies with European commitments:
      • 29 are from the Manufacturers sector, with an average transition of 93%
      • 50 are from the Restaurants sector, with an average transition of 86%
      • 144 are from the Retailers & Meal Kit sector, with an average transition of 78%
      • 40 are from the Food Service & Hospitality sector, with an average transition of 74%
  • 11 are from the Producers sector, with an average transition of 71%
  • KFC (Europe) reached their goal of becoming 100% cage free this year.

EggTrack - 2023 highlights

US highlights

  • Of the 147 USA commitments, 74% are reporting against those commitments, with an average 73% transition to cage-free eggs.
  • The Kraft Heinz Company, CVS and Walgreens reached their goal of becoming 100% cage free this year. 
  • Of the 134 companies with USA commitments:
    • 13 are from the Manufacturers sector, with an average transition of 89%
    • 27 are from the Food Service & Hospitality sector, with an average transition of 71%
    • 48 are from the Restaurants sector, with an average transition of 70%
    • 45 are from the Retailers & Meal Kit sector, with an average transition of 69%
  • 3 companies have been included in EggTrack for the first time this year - Giant Eagle Inc, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc, and Southwest Food Service Excellence

EggTrack - 2023 highlights

Asia-Pacific highlights

  • Of the 40 APAC commitments, 60% are reporting against those commitments, with an average 57% transition to cage-free eggs.
  • Average transition for companies featured in both EggTrack 2022 and EggTrack 2023 increased by 7.4%
  • Burger King (Australia and New Zealand) reached its goal of becoming 100% cage free this year.
  • Of the 23 companies with APAC commitments:
    • 5 are from the Retailers & Meal Kit sector, with an average transition of 78%
    • 6 are from the Restaurants sector, with an average transition of 67%
    • 4 are from the Manufacturers sector, with an average transition of 32%
    • 8 are from the Food Service & Hospitality sector, with an average transition of 27%
  • 3 companies have extended their commitments to the APAC region - Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Starbucks

About EggTrack

EggTrack measures food companies' progress, reporting against their global, European, USA and APAC cage-free egg commitments. It summarises progress by region and food company sector and allows for a year-on-year progress comparison across regions, sectors and individual company commitments.

EggTrack highlights the progress companies are making across not only shell or whole egg, but also their ingredient egg and egg product supply chains too, which are just as important but often forgotten when it comes to commitments and reporting.

By demonstrating the headway companies are making towards meeting their cage-free commitments, we hope to inspire further progress. It should also give producers the confidence to invest in the best alternative systems which are not only fit for purpose, to give the hens a good quality of life, but fit for future too with a lifetime’s worth of investment.

All the companies highlighted in the report have made a commitment to sourcing only cage-free eggs by 2026, or sooner.

Companies are selected based on their size, egg footprint, market influence and commitment deadline and were asked to publicly disclose or update their cage-free percentage this year ahead of 31 July 2023.

Companies are designated as "Global" if their operations are not confined to a single region.

All information in EggTrack is based on companies’ publicly disclosed information, such as on the company's website, their animal welfare policy or ESG/CSR report, or in a press release. 

Combination systems are high risk

With many types of systems available on the market, understanding what constitutes a true cage-free system is essential for making future-proof investments, ensuring a smooth market transition, and maximising the welfare of laying hens.

Combination systems (also referred to as “convertible” or “hybrid” systems) are not a suitable alternative to true cage-free systems because they feature doors and partitions throughout each level of the structure. These doors can confine birds in cages, either routinely or permanently when shut. Even when the doors are open, these systems compromise hen welfare due to the high stocking densities and difficulties they pose for the birds trying to move around the system.

Limited access systems are also a concern, with doors located only on the bottom of the structure they limit movement in and out of the system and those doors can also be closed to become caged production. Their design also leads to overcrowding, especially when hens try to access the littered floor simultaneously or move towards perches and nest boxes at the top of the system.

Both limited access and combination systems limit natural behaviours such as dustbathing, scratching and pecking, and can lead to behaviours that exhibit stress and frustration.

To safeguard the authenticity of any cage-free commitments, Compassion asks companies to publish updated language in their cage-free commitment specifying that they will not allow combination or limited access systems in their supply chains.

Companies must do their due diligence to ensure these systems are not used and instead invest in well-designed, spacious aviary systems that meaningfully improve the lives of laying hens.

Cages fail to provide an environment that allows for the expression of natural behaviours. Given that laying hens experience the same physical, behavioural and psychological distress of being caged wherever they are reared, we urge all companies - especially those with global footprints - to commit to cage-free eggs throughout their entire global supply.

We encourage all companies to support a cage-free future by:

  • making cage-free the baseline across ALL your egg categories (i.e. to include shell eggs, egg product and ingredient eggs) and publicising this commitment
  • ensuring your cage-free commitment covers ALL regions in which you operate
  • investing in the right system that is fit for purpose and future-proofed, by providing your suppliers with specific system design requirements (i.e. no combination or limited access systems)
  • taking the consumer on the journey with you - when your customers understand what cage-free really means for laying hen welfare, they are much more likely to choose higher welfare products on shelf.
  • lobbying policy makers to help create a level playing field by introducing cage bans in animal farming.

Compassion offers help, advice and support for all companies making the transition to cage-free production. Find out more here

Laying hens

Laying hens

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Converting to cage-free eggs

Many of the world’s most influential food companies have made commitments to move to a cage free egg supply by 2025 or sooner. Check out our latest Global EggTrack Report to see which companies are progressing towards their global, regional or national cage-free commitments.

In order for companies to fulfil their pledges and meet the growing demand for cage free eggs, they need to invest in the right systems, get contracts in place with their suppliers and pace their transition.

Invest in the best

Egg producers need to ensure that they invest in the best systems, so the birds not only have good health and physical condition, but good mental wellbeing and are able to express their repertoire of natural behaviours.

Companies need to work with their suppliers and invest in production systems that are fit for purpose to ensure that the animals experience a good quality of life and are fit for the future too by meeting consumer expectation of what is an acceptable cage-free system. 

Watch the video to find out more...

Future-proofing investment is critical to commercial sustainability and involves preparing for upcoming issues, such as the need to operate without beak trimming and maintaining good feather coverage, and the need to improve keel bone condition.

The cage-free market is well established in Europe, where over 50% of hens are currently reared in cage-free systems. In the US it is rapidly expanding and there are promising signs of emerging cage-free markets in other regions of the world.

However, over 60% of the world’s eggs are still produced in industrialised systems, most using battery cages, so any global company that has made a cage-free commitment in one region of their supply chain must address this issue in other regions too, especially in regions where cage-free markets are still a small proportion of overall production.

Key considerations

Read more about how to design your cage-free housing and how to develop a successful cage-free supply chain below.

Good Egg Award

Good Egg Award

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Praise for food companies moving away from caged eggs

Since 2007, the Good Egg Award has recognised companies that use or have committed (within five years) to use cage-free eggs or egg products.

To date, more than 105 million laying hens are set to benefit each year from our award winners’ policies.

It takes more than 6.5 billion laying hens to produce the eggs required for the global egg market, with over 60% of hens kept in industrialised caged systems.

Minimum conditions for the protection of laying hens are set out in the EU Directive (Council Directive 1999/74/EC), which has banned the use of the barren battery cage since 1 January 2012. 

In the EU, there are over 360 million laying hens kept for egg production each year, and around 38 million in the UK. Over 50% are housed in cages, the majority of which are ‘enriched’ cages, which although legal in the EU, are still confinement systems.

In the USA, nearly all laying hens are confined in barren battery cages.

Hens start laying regularly at around 18-20 weeks of age and commercially they lay for just over a year before being sent for slaughter. Most of their lives are therefore spent in confinement.

Laying Hens

Laying Hens

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This section contains a welfare potential matrix of the different production systems used for laying hens, as well as a summary of the key welfare issues of these production systems.

For producers converting to cage-free systems, there is a practical guide on the key features of a higher welfare system for laying hens.

You can also read about the welfare of laying hens in alternative systems (summary or full information sheet) and get informed about specific welfare issues such as feather coverage and beak trimming (summary or full information sheet), and how to assess welfare on farm.

Or find out how Compassion's welfare criteria for laying hens compare with other welfare schemes here.

There is also information available about egg production in the EU and the consumer perception of eggs.

 

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