Eggs sold at Countdown supermarkets will be 100 per cent cage free nationwide by 2025, the supermarket chain has announced.
The company earlier said its own brand eggs will be cage free by the end of 2022.
The 2022 date is also the target of the Government’s Layer Hens Code of Welfare legislation stating battery cages for hens will need to be replaced with slightly larger colony cages. Countdown secured a commitment from its largest egg supplier, Mainland Poultry, to provide a considerable increase in the amount of barn eggs the company will supply to meet expected future customer demand, a Countdown press release says.
Countdown is confident it has secured enough future volume from its egg producer partners to set down a pathway to being cage free in 2024 in the North Island and 2025 in the South Island, General manager corporate affairs James Walker says in the press release.
“By working together with all these egg producers, Countdown is confident it can source the 150 million free range and barn eggs each year we need to meet the needs of our customers by the 2024-2025 target dates,” Mr Walker says.
Two weeks ago, it was revealed the Serious Fraud Office is investigating allegations egg suppliers Palace Poultry sold Countdown cage eggs that were meant to be free range.
While the matter is under investigation, Countdown has pulled Palace Poultry products from its shelves.
For details regarding the law around free-range claims, read our article here.
If you’re concerned about free-range claims, look for an independent accreditation, such as the SPCA Blue Tick on egg packaging.
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