Kraft Heinz goes cage-free

Kraft Heinz commits to a 100% cage-free egg supply chain globally

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Published: December 12, 2017
This Article was written by: Katie Hill - My Green Pod
animal welfare, animals

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Kraft Heinz, one of the world’s largest food makers, has committed to sourcing exclusively cage-free eggs in its entire global supply chain by 2025.

This follows previous commitments to eliminate the use of cages from its regional egg supply chains in North America, Europe and Latin America.

‘Kraft Heinz shows yet again that improving animal welfare is a core part of being a successful food company’

JOSH BALK
Vice president of Farm Animal Protection for The Humane Society of the United States

Kraft Heinz goals for 2024

Kraft Heinz has pledged to work with its suppliers and the industry at large to achieve the following by the year 2024:

Source 100% of its chicken via breeds approved by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) or Global Animal Partnership (GAP) for measurably improved welfare and quality of life
Provide birds with more space to perform natural behaviours, including a stocking density no greater than six pounds per square foot
Provide birds with better environments, including litter, lighting and other enrichments that align with GAP’s environmental standards
Implement a multi-step, controlled-atmosphere processing system
Demonstrate compliance via supplier verification or third-party auditing, and communicate progress as part of regular sustainability reporting

‘We applaud Kraft Heinz for extending their cage-free egg policy commitment to Asia and Africa. By ensuring that their global egg supply chains are 100% cage-free by 2025, Kraft Heinz’ latest commitment provides further incentive for egg producers throughout the world to transition to cage-free housing systems that offer higher welfare standards for hens over caged systems.’

CHETANA MIRLE
Senior director of farm animals for Humane Society International

Life in a battery cage

Around the world, the majority of egg-laying hens are confined in wire battery cages. The cages are so small that the hens can’t move freely and are unable to stretch their wings.

Each battery cage confines five to 10 egg-laying hens and each animal has less space than a letter-sized piece of paper on which to spend her whole life.

Hens confined in battery cages are unable to express important natural behaviours including nesting, dustbathing, and perching. Cage-free systems generally offer hens higher levels of animal welfare than battery cage systems.

Prioritising animal welfare

Kraft Heinz joins other multinational companies that have committed to global cage-free egg procurement policies including Compass Group, Sodexo and General Mills.

Michael Mullen, senior vice president of Corporate and Government Affairs at Kraft Heinz, said, ‘When we issued our global animal welfare policy earlier this year, we underscored our commitment to the humane treatment of animals, and said we would prioritise continuous animal welfare improvements throughout our supply chain.’

He added that Kraft Heinz is delivering on that promise by joining the food industry ‘in an effort to advance the well-being of broiler chickens in our supply’.

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