Tesco to end the sale of colony eggs by 2025

Tesco has announced it will phase out the sale of eggs produced by hens kept in colony cage systems by 2025.

Britain’s largest retailer said in a short statement that it had “conducted a detailed review of its egg sourcing strategy” and concluded the sale of colony egg should end.

It added 43% of eggs sold were currently from hens kept in caged systems.

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John Kirkpatrick, agriculture manager for poultry and eggs at Tesco, told Poultry World the next step would be reviewing with suppliers how the transition could be made. “We have consulted with our supply base, and will look to use existing assets where possible.” 

This would see some units converted to multi-tier barn systems, and the idea that colony could be converted to free range “would not be ruled out”. 

He added the future split of sales would likely be continued growth in free-range egg sales, but also some multi-tier barn, explaining: “Our customers will still want a value tier of egg.”

Mr Kirkpatrick denied that the decision had been driven by a petition started by 14-year-old Lucy Gavaghan, signed almost 300,000 times, calling for an end to the sale of caged and barn eggs by Tesco. 

Instead, it was the conclusion of a review that begun some five months ago as part of wider changes within Tesco. “We want to demonstrate leadership in the sector,” said Mr Kirkpatrick. 

Sustainability and welfare

Matt Simister, commercial director at Tesco, said the move was to “ensure sustainable sourcing and improve animal welfare”.

“We carried out an extensive and collaborative review with our suppliers and key industry experts to help us work through how best we can move to 100% cage-free eggs,” he explained.

“This will ensure we give our supplier partners the certainty they require, to make the significant and necessary investments needed for the new farming systems.”

Noble Foods managing director Veli Moluluo said that, as Tesco’s largest supplier of eggs, it had already begun investigating alternative production methods.

Other retailers

Much of America’s retailers and restaurant chains have also committed to ending caged hen production, leading to calls for the same move here.

In particular, Walmart in the states plans to phase out caged hens from its supply chain – leading to pressure on its UK-based subsidiary, Asda, to do the same.

Last month, Aldi followed its Australian business in making a similar commitment.

Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and the Cooperative do not sell eggs from caged hens.