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How are global food companies complying with cage-free commitments?
103 Plays1 day ago
Amélie Legrand, head of research, food business, with Compassion in World Farming, talks to Mark Clements about the latest edition of EggTrack.
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Transcript
Introduction to Cage-Free Egg Commitments
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Future of Poultry podcast series.
00:00:12
Speaker
Hello, I'm Mark Clements, Editor-in-Chief Poultry with WhatGlobalMedia. And today on the Future of Poultry podcast, we're going to be looking at how well major food businesses, retailers and brands are progressing in their commitments to source only cage-free eggs. To that end, I'm delighted to welcome to the podcast, Amelie LeGrand. head of research food business with Compassion in World Farming, to discuss the latest edition of Compassion's EggTrack, which does exactly that.
00:00:40
Speaker
EggTrack has been monitoring company progress since
The Role of EggTrack in Monitoring Progress
00:00:44
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2017. The latest edition was released in July 2026 to allow sufficient time for companies to report on their 2025 performance, as many had set a target of achieving 100% compliance by that year.
00:00:59
Speaker
So with the latest edition of EGTRAC just published, now is exactly the right time to see whether those commitments have been met. Amelie, welcome to the Future of Poultry podcast.
00:01:10
Speaker
Hello and thank you Mark for having me. Thank you for joining us. Before we look at the findings in the latest edition of EGTRAC, tell us what led to the creation of EGTRAC.
00:01:21
Speaker
Sure. So it all started in the US back in 2015 after McDonald's in the US announced their decision to go cage-free for their egg sourcing.
00:01:32
Speaker
And after that, there was this mass ripple effect of US companies pledging as well to go cage-free, soon followed by other companies in other regions of the world, including the EU and the UK. And it seemed at the time in those years that we were celebrating new corporate commitments every other day so.
00:01:51
Speaker
And that's when we said we need to make sure that these commitments stick and that companies deliver on their promises, because laying hands will only benefit when commitments are actually turned into action. And from that was born the concept of ECTRAC, which is now the most comprehensive global tool to track transparency and progress against K3 commitments.
2025 Commitments: Current Status and Challenges
00:02:14
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for laying hands. And since it was first launched in 2017, it has grown significantly and this year marks its eighth edition. So let's turn to the latest numbers.
00:02:26
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Lots of food producing companies set 2025 as their deadline to source only K-Sprie eggs. So this year's report is particularly important for gauging progress.
00:02:37
Speaker
Absolutely. As you said, this year's report is really important because 2025 is the year for many K3 commitments. So this year's results provide us with this great opportunity to check whether companies have actually delivered on their 2025 commitments.
00:02:55
Speaker
And for those who have failed to deliver, how far away are they from achieving 100% status? You've tracked 852 commitments across 602 business entities, and I believe that your transition figure is higher for 2025 than it was when EggTrack was last published in 2023.
00:03:18
Speaker
Yes, that's absolutely right, and that's quite encouraging. So across all the commitments that we've tracked and that are reported on in this iteration, the average transition to K3 has reached 85%, which represents a nice increase of 10 percentage points compared to 75% in the last iteration of
00:03:41
Speaker
And 28% of the businesses that we've assessed this year are now fully K3 across all egg categories. And 71 of these have reached 100% K3 since last egg track. And this includes, for example, Compass Group in the UK, Mars Europe, Greggs in the UK again, Mondelez in the US.
00:04:03
Speaker
NATO in Poland, Carrefour in Italy, Buffalo Grill in France, or Subway in the US. And I would say as well that it's also encouraging this year to see more companies reporting on progress with public reporting for 79% of the commitments that we've tracked, which is an improvement compared to 71% in 2023, which we're reporting. So that really shows increased transparency from those companies.
00:04:32
Speaker
Well, progress has been made with numerous companies fulfilling their pledges. It's not been universal. I understand that of the 415 commitments with a 2025 deadline, only 48% have fulfilled their pledge. But again, we need to dig a little deeper to understand what's actually going on here.
00:04:52
Speaker
Yeah, that was really disappointing for us to see that less than half of the commitments that we've tracked in this iteration and which had a 2025 target deadline had actually been
Transparency and Accountability Issues
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fulfilled.
00:05:05
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And among the other half that missed the their 2025 deadline, we find some really big global companies, so big names such as Nestle, Compass Group, Aramark, Accor, Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo, Mars, Hilton Hotels, Aldi Sud, and I can go on.
00:05:23
Speaker
And nearly 30% of the businesses that failed to meet their deadline are getting close to completion. So that's encouraging because it means that they've already achieved at least 75% of their K3 transition. So they're not too far, but they really need to accelerate their transition and complete it as as quickly as possible.
00:05:46
Speaker
But it is concerning that the other 70% of the 2025 commitments that were not met are still below that threshold of 75% transition or are not even reporting at all.
00:05:58
Speaker
so So with the companies that are failing to report on on what they've actually committed to do, we just don't know what's going on. Is that correct?
00:06:09
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. So um the reporting rate is actually better in this iteration. But yes, you're right. It's still very disappointing that 21% of the commitments we tracked are not reported on. So those companies have made a pledge, but they're not transparent on their progress and they're not showing accountability. There is actually no way to know if they've even started their transition to Cade Free.
00:06:33
Speaker
Then there are also companies that are reporting but not adequately, not using the right units, but those are only a few. 34 entities are in that category this year and were excluded from our analysis. So the reporting quality was pretty good, I have to say. Good. In some cases, though, some companies have just abandoned their deadlines altogether and and this is happening around the world. Is that correct? I think it is.
00:06:59
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. Unfortunately, it is correct. ah Some companies have actually weakened their commitments instead of delivering on them. and So we've seen that 61 businesses have pushed back their deadlines, although 21 of these have published revised timelines towards full compliance. More disappointingly, 29 businesses have removed their deadline but retained their commitment, while 50 have withdrawn their K3 pledges entirely, so actually reneging on the promise that they made years ago.
00:07:33
Speaker
And examples of those companies that withdrew their pledge include, in the UK, Spa, Pretzel Restaurants, Bitfood in Europe and New Zealand, in France, Courte-Pie, and then at the global level as well, big brands like Avolta, Ex-Auto Grill, Unilever, Krispy Kreme Donuts, and Metro Group.
00:07:53
Speaker
And companies that renege on their K3 commitments are not just failing animals and falling short of their customer expectations, but they're moving against this global shift that we see towards K3X and also an evolving legislative framework in many parts of the world, like here in Europe.
Early Adopters and Regional Progress
00:08:10
Speaker
We've talked about 2025 commitments, but of course there were those companies that committed to sourcing or only K2 free eggs much earlier, much, much earlier and followed through.
00:08:22
Speaker
Absolutely, yes. Those were the pioneers of K3 sourcing, let's say. So those these companies that really led the way, that were the first one to make K3 pledges, but more importantly, the first one to actually deliver on them and to achieve 100% K3 status. So for example, you've got Marks & Spencer in the UK, who's been K3 for all shell eggs since 2002. Amorino, the ice cream brand in France since 2005.
00:08:50
Speaker
Whole Foods Market in the US since 2014, or as I said earlier, McDonald's in the u in the US since 2023. We've discussed the progress of individual food businesses, but EggTrack also reveals regional trends.
00:09:06
Speaker
Yes, so with EGTRAC, we assess progress across different regions in the world. So Europe, including the UK, APAC, the US and Canada at global level for the global companies, as well as China, the Middle East and South America. But for those regions, we don't provide regional averages because we're not tracking a sufficient number of commitments there and the data would not be representative. But what I can say is that most progress progress to date among the commitments that we track has been made in Europe, which has the highest average transition rate at 94%, which is a nice increase from 80% in the last iteration in 2023.
00:09:48
Speaker
And these results in Europe really reflects the maturity of the market, which is supported by an evolving legislative landscape with a forthcoming ban on cages, for laying hands due to be tabled by the end of this year.
00:10:02
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and Then you've got US and Canada with an average transition at 81%, compared with 73% in in the US.
00:10:13
Speaker
ah But progress in APAC remains much slower with an average transition rate at 58%, which is only slightly higher than in
00:10:28
Speaker
You analyze also by sector, for example, retailers or the restaurant sector. What do you see when you break the report down that way?
00:10:40
Speaker
Yes, so absolutely. We also look at progress by sector, and it's very clear that retailers once again this year lead the way with the highest transition rate of 93%, which is a significant increase from 77% in And they are closely followed by the restaurant sector compared in the last iteration.
00:11:07
Speaker
Manufacturers have a good level of transition as well at 85%, but the progress has been somehow slower compared to previous iteration. Disappointingly, the food service and hospitality sector continues again this year to lag behind, with only a modest increase to 68%, up from in And finally, if we look at the producers who have made K3 commitments that we track in Actrack, the progress has been really good as well this year, increasing from 71% in to 93% this year.
00:11:48
Speaker
So this year's report really does demonstrate progress, although there is still a need to do more. What would you say to those companies that have completed their transition, either in 2025 earlier?
Impact of Full Transition and Future Plans
00:12:01
Speaker
So, I would say very well done to them. Of course, those are the leaders of the cage-free transition. They've actually translated their promises into action, helping to free millions of hands out of cages while also answering their consumer demand for cage-free and also anticipating a legislative ban on cages for those operating in the EU or in the UK.
00:12:23
Speaker
um If we look at the impact ah of of those commitments, so based on the commitments that we track in EggTrack that are reporting on progress and where we have impact figures, we can say that an estimated 161 million laying hands are already benefiting and living in K3 systems.
00:12:43
Speaker
And what would you say to those companies that are falling behind? Well, to the 79 businesses that have either withdrawn the deadline of their commitment or withdrawn their commitment mental entirely, we want to call on them to urgently reinstate their commitment with a clear target deadline and to transparently report on their progress.
00:13:04
Speaker
Then to the companies that have missed their 2025 deadline, we also call on them to urgently establish credible time-bound transition plans to achieve 100% K3 sourcing as quickly as possible.
00:13:19
Speaker
And they really should work closely with their suppliers to embed K3 requirements into their procurement policy. They need to invest in supply chain development and of course to report on progress. And EGTRAC will continue to monitor our progress until all those commitments are full fulfilled and hands are truly living cage-free.
00:13:41
Speaker
Amélie, I do hope that you'll come back when the next egg track is published. But before we close today, what final thoughts would you have for our listeners? Well, first I'd say that commitments are very important. Of course, they're a crucial first step, but they are only meaningful if they translate into real change for animals.
00:14:03
Speaker
So those promises need to be turned into action if we are truly to get hands out of cages. And this year, EGTRAC results show that the K3 transition driven by corporate pledges continues to make steady progress and that's encouraging but too many companies are not living up to their promises.
00:14:22
Speaker
Then if we look at egg producers that are already fully K3, like Spanish producer Ruhama, who actually spoke at our egg track webinar, they demonstrate that the K3 production is feasible at scale and commercially viable.
00:14:37
Speaker
And we know that consumers and citizens are calling for a cage-free future and that the legislators have heard them and are about to table proposals in the EU and in the UK to phase out cages for laying hands.
00:14:50
Speaker
In the EU, actually actually, this has just been reaffirmed in the recent livestock strategy, which was published by the European Commission earlier this week, confirming that the cage ban proposals for laying hands will indeed be published by the end of the year.
00:15:05
Speaker
And finally, i just wanted to mention as well that not all cage-free systems are equal. So when planning the transition away from cages, it's also important to ensure that the systems replacing cages are future fit, meaning that they are well designed in order to meet the needs of the laying hands, that they are compliant with future legislative evolutions and able to meet consumer expectations for cage-free.
00:15:31
Speaker
Emily, thank you so much for joining me today on the podcast. It's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you. Thanks so much, Mark, for the invitation. My pleasure. Listeners, many thanks to you for joining us today. And don't forget to look out for future editions of the Future of Poultry podcast. Goodbye.