Tesco has announced that it will stop sourcing eggs from caged hens by 2025, following an in-depth review of its egg sourcing strategy.
The cage-free egg commitment from Tesco comes after its consultations with suppliers, industry experts and other key stakeholders.
The UK retailer will transition to 100% cage-free eggs by shifting to alternative sourcing methods such as barns, free range and organic.
Currently, caged eggs account for 43% of the 1.4 billion eggs sold by Tesco in the UK annually. The remaining eggs come from free range or organic methods.
The company said that the latest initiative is aimed at ensuring the sourcing of products in a sustainable way.
Tesco fresh food Commercial Director Matt Simister said: “Our decision on caged hens is one of a number of Tesco initiatives designed 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. 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.”
In December 2015, The Daily Meal reported that Tesco was contemplating to implement sugar reduction targets to its own-label suppliers in the new food and drink categories.
Tesco group quality director Tim Smith had disclosed the company's plans by citing a Public Health England (PHE) report that assessed food and drinks having highest levels of dietary sugar intake among children.
