Switch to cage-free eggs - CIWF, Good Egg Award for top UK and European companies

Good Egg Award for top UK and European companies helping millions of hens out of cages

Sainsbury’s, McDonalds UK, M & S, Google, REWE GROUP Austria, Colruyt and Starbucks are among European companies given Good Egg Awards by leading farm animal welfare charity Compassion in World Farming for switching to a more ethical egg supply - saving millions of hens from living in horrendous conditions.

The Good Egg Awards, which are being announced today (20 March) in Brussels at the International Press Centre, reward companies who are choosing to source eggs from free-range or barn hens instead of battery caged hens. Other winners include Jumbo (Netherlands), Biocoop (France), Recheis (Austria), Waitrose (UK), JD Wetherspoon (UK) (a full list is available below).

'The Good Egg Awards aim to recognise companies that are making significant progress on the welfare of egg laying hens,' says Rowen West-Henzell, Food Policy Officer at Compassion in World Farming.

'Improving animal welfare practice makes good business sense. We know from surveys of European public opinion that laying hens are one of the top animals that consumers are concerned about, so eggs are a good place to start. It’s great to see leading companies responding to their customers concerns so well.'

The demand for higher animal welfare eggs is on the increase - 12 per cent of hens kept in the European Union (EU) are now cage-free compared to just 3 per cent in the mid 90s. In the UK this has grown from 10 per cent to 30 per cent.

This growing trend is having an impact on businesses. More and more companies are making improvements to their animal welfare standards in response to public demand and scientific evidence showing that cages are worse for the welfare of laying hens.

This year’s Good Egg Awards is the first in a series of annual events. Compassion in World Farming will be urging more and more leading retail, food manufacturing, food service and procurement companies to adopt higher animal welfare policies, by going cage-free on eggs.

CIWF calls on other European companies to consider animal welfare as an intrinsic part of their corporate social responsibility and commit to going cage-free.

Notes

Journalists are invited to attend the Good Egg Awards at the International Press Centre, Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi 155, 1040 Brussels on Tuesday 20 March 11.30 – 13.30hrs.

Dr Andrea Gavinelli, Deputy Head of Unit, Animal Welfare and Feed, Health and Consumer Protection, European Commission DG will be making a presentation to the award winners.

Please confirm your attendance to Annabel Davis, CIWF Head of Media, 00 44 (0) 1483 521973 or by email to Annabel

For a full media pack containing:

Details on each winner with numbers of eggs used and quotes
Briefing on laying hens and EU legislation
Photos or Footage of battery caged hens

Contact Annabel Davis, Compassion in World Farming 01483 521973, out of hours 07771 926005 or email Annabel

Background to Good Egg Awards

EU winners: Rewe Group (Austria), Google, Jumbo (Netherlands), Colruyt (Belgium), Biocoop (France), Naturata (Germany),Recheis (Austria),P.P.H. Tast (Poland), Ecobotiga La Magrana (Spain)

UK winners: Sainsbury’s, J D Wetherspoon, McDonald’s, Marks & Spencer, Pret A Manger, Starbucks, The Eden Project, Wholefoods Market, Waitrose, Ugo Foods Group Ltd, House of Commons and the staff catering of Google, Microsoft UK and Sky.

Criteria: Companies have to be either cage-free already or they must have committed to phasing out caged eggs in their egg supply by 2012 – in advance of the EU ban on battery cages.

Background on battery cages

Three quarters of the 300 million hens in Europe still live in battery cages. Cages provide little more space than a sheet of A4 paper per hen and prohibit natural behaviours such as foraging, dust-bathing, nesting and perching.

The awards come at a time when the European Commission is about to review the 2012 ban on barren battery cages. The Laying Hens Directive is seriously under threat from certain EU member states and industry bodies pushing for the ban to be delayed, or even dropped.

The 2005 Eurobarometer showed that 58 per cent of Europeans rate the welfare of laying hens as bad; 59 per cent of regular shoppers said they would pay more for welfare friendly eggs and 53 per cent of these shoppers already buy eggs mainly from non-caged systems.