Supervalu, PepsiCo Pledge To Sell & Use Only Cage-Free Eggs

Two more national companies are jumping on the increasingly crowded cage-free egg bandwagon. PepsiCo and Supervalu — the operator of brands like Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbacher’s, Shop ’n Save, and more — both plan to transition to using or selling only cage-free eggs over the next several years. 

Supervalu committed today to stocking its shelves with the cage-free products by no later than 2025, while PepsiCo quietly updated its human sustainability policies to reflect its plan to use only cage-free eggs in products by 2020 in the U.S. and 2025 globally.

The company, which operates 3,400 stores in the U.S., says that the transition to cage-free eggs could happen sooner than 2025 depending on available supply, affordability, and customer demand.

“Our decision to move toward selling only cage-free eggs reflects our ongoing commitment to improving animal welfare practices across the industry,” Mark Van Buskirk, Supervalu’s executive vice president, merchandising, marketing and retail, said in a statement.

This isn’t the company’s first cage-free egg push. In 2015, it announced all of its Wild Harvest shell egg products would be cage-free, that transition was completed by the end of the year.

While eggs aren’t an ingredient in soda, Pepsi happens to be the second largest food and beverage business in the world with brands like Tostitos, Quaker, and Frito-Lay under its banner. The company recently updated its policies to reflect that only cage-free eggs would be used in its oatmeal, protein bars, biscuits, and cookies by 2020 in the U.S. and 2025 globally.

The change was made to “ensure that our business practices support the more ethical and humane treatment of animals,” the company says in its sustainability policy.

The Humane League applauded Pepsi’s move on Monday, noting that the nonprofit organization approached the company in late 2015 about the switch.

“Being the world’s second largest food manufacturer, PepsiCo’s initiative to exclusively commit to cage-free eggs by 2025 speaks strongly towards this becoming a global industry standard,” David Coman-Hidy, Executive Director at The Humane League, said in a statement. “As it becomes apparent that the use of cages will soon be a thing of the past, I am proud that The Humane League was behind this achievement that will affect the lives of countless hens worldwide.”