Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Tesco has announced that it will stop sourcing eggs from caged hens by 2025.
Currently 43% of the 1.4 billion eggs sold by the grocery multiple each year come from caged eggs, while 57% come from free range or organic methods.
The supermarket chain said the decision followed a detailed review of its egg sourcing strategy, which included consultation with suppliers and industry experts. Working with supplier partners, Tesco will transition to 100% cage-free eggs, moving to alternative sourcing methods, such as barns, free range and organic.
Matt Simister, Tesco’s commercial director for fresh food, said: “Our decision on caged hens is one of a number of Tesco initiatives designed to ensure sustainable sourcing and improve animal welfare. We carried out an extensive and collaborative review to help us work through how best we can move to 100% cage-free eggs. This will ensure we give our supplier partners the certainty they require, to make the significant and necessary investments needed for the new farming systems.”
Veli Moluluo, managing director of Noble Foods, which is Tesco’s largest supplier of eggs, said: “We’ve already started investigating new methods of egg production, and the commitment from Tesco to move away from enriched colony [caged eggs] production in a manageable timeframe gives us the confidence and ability to invest for the long term.”
