Aldi to phase out caged eggs

Some truly wonderful news has reached us here at Hen Central – Aldi is to start phasing out the sale of eggs from caged hens in its UK stores.

It comes after we asked our lovely supporters to write to the supermarket giant letting them know they would like to see more products containing British free range eggs in their processed product range.

Aldi’s decision is one we truly welcome, although the company has said it will begin phasing out caged eggs from 2025 – a date we would like to see brought forward.

Oliver King, Aldi UK corporate managing director, told Farmers Weekly: “Aldi currently provides customers with a range of shell eggs, all of which are sourced from the UK and certified to meet British Lion Standards.

“We know that animal welfare is an important consideration for our customers and we are committed to continuously improving sourcing practices across our supply chain.

“As a result, we have committed that from 2025 we will begin phasing out the sale of shell eggs from caged hens in our UK stores.

“Meaningful commitments such as these can take time to plan and implement. The timeframe ensures that we can continue to work collaboratively with suppliers to minimise the impact on their business.”

There has also been recent pressure put on Tesco by 14-year-old Lucy Gavaghan, who featured in our last edition of Chicken & Egg.

She met with Tesco on May 13 after 279,000 signed a petition asking the firm to ban the sale of caged eggs in its stores.

All of this really goes to show the power that we as consumers can have on the sale of caged eggs, and that’s truly eggcellent news.