Foodstuffs to ditch caged eggs
Supermarket owner Foodstuffs is giving itself a ‘‘realistic’’ time of 10 years to stop selling cage eggs.
The eggs will come from either freerange or barn-raised hens.
Rival Countdown pledged in March to go cage free by 2024 in the North Island and 2025 in the South Island.
Foodstuffs managing director Steve Anderson said in a statement: ‘‘We are committed to working with our suppliers toward our goal to be 100 per cent cage free for packaged eggs by the end of 2027.
‘‘Our Pams eggs have been cage free since 2008, and sales of other free-range and barn-raised eggs have grown significantly over the last decade.
‘‘Now we are ready to take the next step – but we need to work closely with the industry to make this happen.’’
The owner of New World and Pak’n Save supermarkets, and Four Square dairies, said it had reviewed its egg-sourcing and animal welfare policies.
The company realised it needed to take a clear position on what types of eggs it wanted so producers could plan for a realistic timeline. Many suppliers had spent a lot of money on colony-style, or cage, farming, Anderson said.
Foodstuffs said farmers needed to recoup the costs of these investments to allow them to invest further in cage-free eggs. ‘‘On balance we believe 10 years is a reasonable timeframe to enable producers to realise their investment and be able to reinvest in alternative farming infrastructure.’’
Safe campaigns director Mandy Carter said Foodstuffs and Countdown needed to be careful that egg retailers were fully committed to going cage free.
In March, a Newsroom investigation revealed Palace Poultry eggs sold at Countdown did not have enough hens to lay as many free-range eggs as it was selling, and purchased the shortfall from egg wholesaler Eco Foods in Bombay.
Surveillance photos and information from Eco Foods staff showed the eggs were caged eggs.
‘‘This is definitely something to be wary of. Steps need to be taken to ensure eggs are not caged,’’ Carter said.
She said caged eggs from Foodstuffs and Countdown supermarkets made up 1.25 million out of about 3 million in the whole country.
‘‘The rest come from hotels, caterers, food services, manufacturers, and many people don’t think about that when they sit down in a cafe for breakfast,’’ she said.
Carter was happy supermarkets would stop selling colony caged eggs, which she said misled customers.