A Proper Transition to Cage Free

Compassion urges companies to be 100% cage free throughout their global supply. That means their commitments should cover ALL regions in which they operate and include ALL egg categories such as shell eggs, egg products AND egg ingredients. The good news is that more companies are expanding their commitments and increasingly reporting across all egg categories this year.

Companies should also avoid investing in inadequate cage-free systems such as combination and limited access systems. This year, 21 companies have 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.

Compassion encourages companies to develop roadmaps outlining their implementation plans and speed up their rate of transition to cage-free, working with their suppliers, and to publicly report their progress on an annual basis.

Legislation needs to catch up!

The progression demonstrated by food businesses reflect consumer concerns for animal welfare and with extensive scientific evidence backing the need for cage-free production, it’s now time for policy makers to reinforce and support the positive action the food industry is taking by introducing cage bans.

Such legislation would broadly reflect consumer attitudes, as demonstrated by the 1.4 million EU citizens who signed the ‘End the Cage Age’ European Citizens Initiative in 2020, and the 2023 Eurobarometer in which 91% of Europeans believe that protecting the welfare of farmed animals is important, with 84% saying these animals should be better protected than they are currently. It would also support the views of the scientific community that backs the need for cage-free production – as is outlined in a series of EFSA opinions.

Compassion's Global Director of Food Business, Tracey Jones concludes: "The voluntary commitments and continued progress highlighted throughout this report clearly demonstrate that food companies are focused on providing a cage-free future for egg-laying hens.

"Cages are unwanted by consumers, 1.4 million of whom signed the ‘End the Cage Age’ European Citizens Initiative submitted in 2020, resulting in the European Commission committing to ban cages for all farmed animals by 2027.

"Europe holds a unique opportunity to lead the way on animal welfare. By responding to its citizens with a ban on cages and supporting businesses in their transition, the European Commission has a momentous opportunity to create a level playing field across industry and send a strong message to the rest of the world that cages should be consigned to the history books for good.”

Read the full EggTrack report and explore the online tracker to find out more.

EggTrack 2023 celebrates continued cage-free progress