Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, has announced its commitment to eliminate cages from its egg supply chain worldwide. This policy will be adopted in 189 countries, including Australia, and will improve the lives of tens of millions of hens.
The multinational food giant sells everything from cereal to baby food. This new policy to phase out cage eggs will affect Nestlé products in Australia that include Lean Cuisine, Nesquik and KitKat.
Animals Australia said the commitment is a major step toward sparing all hens from life in a cage across the global egg industry.
“We commend Nestlé’s ground-breaking animal welfare policy. As the largest food company in the world, this decision is a signal to the rest of the food industry that cage eggs don’t have a future,” said Jesse Marks, Animals Australia Director of Farmed Animal Advocacy.
“Australian consumers are concerned about the cruelty egg-laying hens suffer in cages, with a recent Roy Morgan poll showing that 67 per cent of Australians are more likely to support a company that has a policy not to use or sell cage eggs. This decision by Nestlé demonstrates how leaders in the corporate sector can listen to their customers and respond.”
Nestlé’s commitment comes just a week after a similar decision from the largest global hotel chain, Wyndham Hotel Group, which operates 26 hotels and resorts across Australia and 8,100 hotels globally.
Nestlé and Wyndham Hotel Group now join the growing number of major companies in Australia, and globally, that are cutting cage eggs from their supply chain – including, Subway, McDonald’s, Hungry Jacks, Woolworths, Aldi, McCain, Arnott’s, Hilton, and many others.
These policies followed negotiations with members of the Open Wing Alliance, a global coalition of animal protection organisations, including Animals Australia. Both commitments will result in a complete phase out of cage eggs in Australia by 2025.