Wal-Mart to switch 100 per cent cage-free eggs in US by 2025

Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world's largest retail chain, plans to sell 100 per cent cage-free eggs by 2025, joining an industry-wide shift toward a practice that is seen as more humane.

The move would see Wal-Mart and its Sam's Club warehouse chain require that egg suppliers adopt United Egg Producers rules or an equivalent set of standards, according to the company's statement yesterday. A third party would check compliance annually.

Wal-Mart sold more groceries than anyone else in the US, and its decisions typically set the standard for the rest of the industry. Cage-free eggs had been offered by the retailer since 2001, though not exclusively.

Other companies, meanwhile, had set different timelines for making the switch, which included consumer-food sellers and restaurant chains such as Taco Bell and Burger King. The idea was to give chicken more room to move around, in a bid to improve their welfare.

According to commentators, the challenge for Wal-Mart was transitioning to cage-free eggs while keeping prices in check, something the chain said it could do by the 2025 deadline.

''Our customers and associates count on Wal-Mart and Sam's Club to deliver on affordability and quality, while at the same time offering transparency into how their food is grown and raised,'' Kathleen McLaughlin, the retailer's chief sustainability officer, said in a statement.

Restaurants, food makers, and egg suppliers had in recent months announced multi-year commitments to exclusively use cage-free eggs, a policy shift animal  welfare advocates said was important due to the pain caused to chickens kept in cramped cages. Other grocers that had joined the movement included Trader Joe's, Safeway, and Sprouts Farmers Market.  

Wal-Mart was however, particularly important as it accounted for 25 per cent of all food sold in the US.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the US, said in a statement that the group's advocacy on the issue turned a corner in September  when McDonald's  announced its cage-free policy.

''But today, that debate ends, and the trajectory is clear,'' Pacelle said, Fortune reported. ''The era of confining hens in cages in America's food system is officially sunsetting.''