The cage-free movement in the UK has began to gather pace, with four major retailers this week announcing their decision to drop caged eggs in favour of caged-free.
Compassion in World Farming says it is 'delighted' at the news, explaining that the cage-free movement in the UK is 'seriously gathering pace'.
These announcements come close on the heels of pledges from Tesco, Aldi, Morrisons and international food service company, Sodexo to go cage-free, and follow a domino effect of similar announcements by leading supermarkets and other food companies in the US.
In April, Walmart, the largest grocer in the US, announced their commitment to switch to 100% cage-free eggs by 2025.
However, despite being owned by Walmart, ASDA, the third largest supermarket in Britain, has yet to commit to phasing out cages for hens.
Gaining momentum
Dr Tracey Jones, Director of Food Business at Compassion in World Farming, says: "Just two weeks ago I congratulated Tesco on their decision to go cage-free and expressed the hope that it would be the catalyst for others to follow.
"With Morrisons, Iceland, Aldi and Sodexo all pledging to go cage-free this week it would seem that the cage-free movement in the UK has developed serious traction and continues to gain momentum."
"Of course, whilst the timelines are longer than we would like we at Compassion very much welcome these pledges.
"We have worked to influence and educate food companies on animal welfare for decades, and we will continue to work with these retailers to ensure the production system changes required to go cage-free will offer the hens a good quality of life in rich and stimulating environments."
Mia Fernyhough, a hen welfare specialist for the RSPCA, said: "It is fantastic news that Tesco, Iceland and now Morrisons are all committed to going cage-free.
"We hope they will not only stop selling packs of eggs from caged hens but they will also stop using them as ingredients in own-brand products like cakes, quiches and fresh pasta.
"Sadly around half of the eggs laid in the UK are still from birds kept in cages, provided with little more usable space than an A4 sheet of paper per hen.
"It’s time cages were consigned to the history books and we hope that the last few supermarkets still selling eggs from caged hens follow suit."
