14 November 2016: McDonald’s has become one of the first quick service restaurants in South Africa to commit to 100% cage-free eggs by 2025.

This latest cage-free commitment follows similar announcements from McDonald’s USA and Canada in September 2015, and McDonald’s in New Zealand and Australia in June 2016, extending the cage-free movement even wider across the globe.

Over the past several months, McDonald’s SA has been working closely with their egg supplier to understand the viability of expanding their cage-free policy to South Africa.

McDonald’s SA Chief Executive Officer, Greg Solomon said: “We are pleased to announce that we will fully transition to cage-free eggs in all our restaurants across South Africa by 2025. Starting in 2017, we will begin to phase in cage-free eggs at all of our restaurants. Our egg supplier has committed to providing us with quality, safe and consistent supply at more than 10% per annum until all the eggs we purchase are cage-free by 2025. The move is testament to McDonald’s commitment towards sustainability and food innovations.”

McDonald’s decision to source only cage-free eggs reinforces the focus the company places on providing the quality of food and breadth of choice in line with customers’ changing expectations and preferences, the world over.

Dr Tracey Jones, Director of Food Business, Compassion in World Farming, commented: “I would like to congratulate McDonald’s SA for their commitment and for doing the right thing for laying hens. McDonald’s has for some time been using only cage-free eggs across the European Union and it’s great to see they are extending their cage-free policy out to wider geographical regions.

“When big brands like McDonald’s make animal welfare commitments others follow suit. They have shown their leadership and played a key role in the global cage-free movement and I hope more companies will take similar strides towards a cage-free future.”

McDonald’s SA announces move to cage-free eggs