Target Will Sell Only Eggs From Cage-Free Hens By 2025

Another day, another major company coming out to promise it’ll be switching to selling 100% cage-free eggs. Today’s newcomer to the bandwagon is Target, which has announced it’ll be making the change to only selling eggs from uncaged hens by 2025.

The Minneapolis-based chain announced on Twitter that it’s working with suppliers to offer more cage-free eggs in the U.S., with the goal of completing the changeover in the next nine years.

“Target is committed to the humane treatment of animals, and we believe they should be raised in clean, safe environments free from cruelty, abuse or neglect,” the company said in a statement on its site. “In January 2016, we announced that we will work with our suppliers to increase our offerings of cage-free shell eggs nationwide, working toward a 100 percent cage-free shell egg assortment by 2025, based on available supply.”

Though others in the food sector have been quick to follow each other down the cage-free path — Subway, Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Panera Bread, to name a few — Target is one of only a few retailers that have made the same pledge so far. Whole Foods was the first national chain to promise it’d go cage-free in 2005, but according to Josh Balk, senior director of food policy for the Humane Society of the U.S., other grocers thought it was all well and great for Whole Foods to cater to customers who cared about animal welfare, but that was just a niche audience .

With Target joining the field, Balk says the rest of the grocery sector could soon hop on the cage-free bandwagon.

“There’s nothing more powerful in talking about this issue to a company than stating that its competitors are doing it and they are not,” he told Fortune.

It’s also worth noting that cage-free doesn’t mean cruelty free, but President and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, Wayne Parcelle says it’s a step in the right direction.

“Cage-free hens, even in indoor barns, have at least double the amount of space per bird as caged hens, and often much more space than that,” he said in a statement tied to Target’s announcement. “In addition, they have the ability to walk, spread their wings, perch, lay their eggs in a nesting area, and more.”

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist