British Hen Welfare Trust supporters will no doubt remember the flurry of UK supermarkets and retailers pledging to go cage-free by 2025 – but, as we near the end of 2024, where do those pledges stand, and how many hens are still in cages?
Since 2005 the BHWT has been raising awareness of the humble laying hen, encouraging the public to see them as more than egg laying machines and, instead, value them for the sentient, joyous creatures they are. Along with that we have run several successful campaigns encouraging the likes of Hellmann’s mayo to go free-range and asking questions of Mr Kipling, one of the nation’s favourite treat makers, after he reneged on his free-range pledge.
Not only that, but we have also encouraged consumers to influence hen welfare with their purses by opting for the best eggs they could afford in the supermarket because, as we know, change happens best from the ground up.
Fast forward to 2016 when mounting pressure from a collective of animal rights organisations and activists began, along with measured campaigns in which we took a strong position, advocating ‘free range is best’. As a result, retailers such as Tesco, Aldi and Lidl vowed to stop selling eggs laid by caged hens come 2025.
However, this was a voluntary move and, as such, there were no boundaries put in place when it came to exact timeframes and, for many supermarkets, whether the change would apply to both shell eggs and eggs used as ingredients.
What’s the current situation?
As already mentioned, this initiative was a voluntary move rather than a requirement by law, meaning each company has in the meantime set its own standards.
Tesco, for example, still states on its website that it is committed to being ‘cage-free by December 2025’ for both shell eggs and ingredient eggs. Similarly, Lidl has set out its plan online, stating: “We are committed to working with our suppliers to phase out the sale of eggs from caged hens in our stores by 2025. This commitment covers both shell eggs and eggs used as an ingredient in our products.”
Asda has a very similar statement, confirming: “Asda is committed to growing cage free egg sales and sourcing cage-free shell eggs by 2025 and are working with our suppliers on improving the welfare of the laying hens. We are also committed to using eggs used as ingredients from cage free systems by 2025.”
Whether these changes will come into effect by the end of 2025 remains to be seen and, indeed, doubt has been expressed by Robert Gooch, former CEO of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association, who said in an interview with The Grocer magazine in August this year: “They won’t all make the commitment by January 2025, that’s for sure.”
What does cage-free mean?
The term cage-free is often misconstrued as meaning free-range when, in fact, barn hens have no outdoor access and a lack of natural daylight.
Even if all the retailers in question do meet their commitments, what does that mean for hens? For the most part, retailers will need to provide an affordable option for their customers, meaning barn eggs will be increasingly offered on supermarket shelves. The statistics back this up too: the number of barn eggs produced in the UK doubled between 2022 and 2023.
When will cages be banned altogether?
If we look across Europe, cage bans are already in place in Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria, with a ban to be introduced in Germany by 2026, Czechia by 2027 and Slovakia by 2030.
The European Union launched a two-year project in 2021 looking at ‘best practices for transitioning to higher welfare cage-free egg production systems’ claiming it would help the industry meet market demand. The project ended with a conference in Brussels but no commitment to outlaw cages for hens across the EU, leaving many animal welfare groups disappointed.
While the production of caged eggs in the UK has fallen significantly over the past decade, it is of course still our objective as a charity to see all hens kept in higher welfare free-range organic systems so they can enjoy a good quality of life.
Until then, we will continue focusing our efforts on taking hens out of farms in order to give them a chance to experience life beyond 18 months old, and we thank every one of our supporters who is enabling that to happen.
