Sainsbury’s will be making poultry campaigners very happy this week, as they announce they are to be the first major supermarket to ban the sale of eggs from caged hens.
They are the third biggest food store chain in Britain and from 5 February they will only sell free range eggs - three years earlier than the planned EU ban on battery cages.
The supermarket made the decision to implement the sale of eggs from non-caged birds earlier than planned in order to stand out from competitors Asda, Tesco and Morrisons.
Rowen West-Henzell, of Compassion in World Farming, said, “We are over the moon that Sainsbury’s has gone cage-free almost a year ahead of schedule. The scale of this move is breathtaking.”
A few of the smaller chains like Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and the Co-op have previously banned the sale of eggs from caged hens, however Sainsbury’s adding to this will make a huge difference as they have 16 per cent of the market - more than all three smaller chains combined.
In addition to these plans, Sainsbury’s are also aiming towards a target by 2012 to halt the sale of any food or drink made using caged eggs. Their “Taste the Difference” and “Kids” range has already achieved this.
Last Monday the Compassion in World Farming group attributed one of their first “good egg” awards to the supermarket chain. The group hailed a number of companies who were making “significant progress” in the fight to raise the welfare standards of hens. Also named were McDonald’s, Starbucks, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Pret A Manger, JD Wetherspoon, The Eden Project in Cornwall and the catering at Microsoft UK and Google.
EU legislation will require poultry farmers to create larger better equipped cages in order to give hens more freedom and space to live in. However Sainsbury’s will only be selling eggs that come from hens which are allowed to live outside cages - regardless of the standard of cages.
Tesco and Asda who jointly have 48 per cent of British food sales, still sell eggs from non free-range hens, while Morrisons aims to slowly phase out the sale of eggs from caged birds for their own label, but will continue to sell caged hen eggs from other brands.
