Meeting consumer demands for responsibly-sourced products, global food company Nestlé announced it will transition to using only cage-free eggs in all of its US food products by 2020.
According to the company, Nestlé uses approximately 20 million pounds of eggs annually to produce products for brands such as Häagen-Dazs, Dreyer’s and Edy’s ice creams, Nestlé Toll House cookie dough and Buitoni pasta. Eggs are also an important part of Lean Cuisine and Stouffer’s breakfast items.
“Our products are in the fridges and pantries of socially-conscious consumers across the United States, and we share their belief in the importance of responsibly-sourced ingredients,” says Paul Grimwood, chairman and CEO of Nestlé USA. “The move to using exclusively cage-free eggs is one more way that we’re responding to consumers and establishing a precedent for farm animal welfare.”
Nestlé is developing pilot projects with its suppliers and World Animal Protection to establish a roadmap for sourcing cage free eggs in Europe and the rest of the world.