Looking forward: from commitment to compliance

EggTrack 2025 marks a pivotal milestone for assessing corporate cage-free commitments. Many companies set 2025 as their original deadline, and this year’s report provides a critical snapshot of how far companies have come in delivering on those promises. While progress continues across many markets and sectors, the findings show that too many companies have failed to meet their commitments on time.

Particularly concerning is the number of companies that have weakened or entirely removed their cage-free commitments. Backtracking on public pledges not only undermines a company’s accountability, it stalls momentum for improved animal welfare and damages brand reputation at a time when consumers increasingly expect transparency and follow-through. We urge these companies to reinstate their commitments, publish revised transition timelines, and transparently report on progress going forward. Compassion remains committed to holding companies accountable to the promises they have made.

The report also shows that meaningful progress is achievable. Europe continues to lead the cage-free transition for laying hens, driven by strong consumer demand, growing corporate momentum, and an increasingly favourable legislative landscape, including the anticipated phase-out of cages for laying hens, with proposals expected by the end of 2026. In contrast, progress remains slowest in the APAC region and within the Food Service & Hospitality sector, where transition rates continue to lag behind.

The path forward is clear. Companies that have missed their 2025 deadlines must reaffirm their commitment to achieving 100% cage-free sourcing as quickly as possible and publish credible, time-bound transition roadmaps. This requires clear action plans, including working closely with suppliers to secure cage-free supply, embedding cage-free requirements into procurement policies and contracts, investing in supply chain development where needed, and reporting on progress transparently each year.

For companies operating across multiple regions, global cage-free commitments are essential to ensure consistent progress and to deliver meaningful change at scale. Transparent reporting, strong supplier engagement, and clear accountability mechanisms will be critical to ensuring commitments translate into lasting benefits for the millions of animals in the global egg supply.

EggTrack will continue to provide transparency, track progress, and spotlight both leadership and inaction until cage-free commitments are fully delivered for laying hens worldwide.

The time to act is now. Commitments to improve the lives of millions of laying hens are only as good as the actions that back them up and the progress that is made to fulfil them. We therefore encourage companies to continue progressing towards compliance and ask those not yet reporting to do so urgently and well ahead of the next EggTrack iteration.