Free range eggs are the top sellers for first time
FREE-RangE eggs have outsold those laid by caged hens for the first time.
Major supermarkets are committed to ending sales of caged eggs – and official figures show consumers are backing the move.
From October last year to June 35million more free range eggs were produced by UK farmers than eggs from caged and barn-raised hens.
The total produced in both groups came to just under 4billion, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural affairs (Defra).
The figures show a marked change in chicken welfare compared with ten years ago, when barn-raised and caged hens produced more than twice as many free-range eggs.
Production figures are said to be an accurate indicator of consumer purchases because most eggs that pass through the packing stations where data is collected end up being sold.
an RSPCa spokesman said: ‘Freerange sales out selling cage eggs is a milestone for hen welfare.’ The tipping point arrived this year despite rules introduced in December to prevent the spread of bird flu, which forced farmers to keep free range birds inside.
By February, supermarkets were forced to put stickers on free-range egg boxes admitting that they were no longer free range. But the ban was lifted in april, allowing free-range eggs to come back on the market.
Defra figures show the production
of free-range eggs has been climbing steadily. Last year, 48 per cent of all eggs came from free range hens.
Half of all eggs produced in the UK last year were from caged hens, with 2 per cent from barn-raised hens.
Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Aldi have all pledged to stop selling eggs from caged hens.
Robert Gooch, of the British Free Range Egg Producers Association, said: ‘Consumers eat about 12billion eggs a year because of their versatility and high nutritional content.
‘We have seen a long-term trend towards choosing free-range eggs over other production systems, and about 65 per cent of egg-laying hens on farms are free range.’
The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ( Peta) criticised supermarkets switching from caged to barn-raised hens, claiming it was still inhumane
Elisa Allen, of Peta UK, said: ‘Refusing to buy and sell eggs from caged hens is the bare minimum that any decent retailer should do.’
She added: ‘Those that don’t clearly care more about profit margins than animal welfare.’
Free-range eggs are more expensive to produce but are worth more to farmers, who are paid around 86p for a dozen free-range eggs, compared with 52.6p for 12 from caged birds.
British egg sales are valued at around £900million.
Just over half are sold in boxes of eggs, with the rest being processed into foods such as quiches and mayonnaise.