Supervalu, Weis, Raley's Commit to Cage-free Eggs

Supervalu, Weis Markets and Raley's Family of Fine Stores are among the latest retailers to announce plans to convert to a 100 percent cage-free egg program.

Minneapolis-based Supervalu, whose Wild Harvest shell egg products are currently cage-free, will transition the entire category to completely cage-free in all banners by 2025 or sooner.

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

“Our national Wild Harvest brand was a natural starting point for understanding customer interest and support for cage-free eggs,” noted Van Buskirk. “We also offer additional store brand assortments that are 100 percent cage-free, and as the available supply increases, we will continue to expand our cage-free egg offerings.”

Weis Markets, whose transition will be complete by 2026, shared similar sentiments regarding the importance of animal welfare, noting that the Sunbury, Pa.-based company will work closely with its locally-based egg suppliers to implement the program.

"This is an enormous undertaking for our egg suppliers and involves an extensive conversion process," said Richard Gunn, the company's SVP, merchandising and marketing. "We are encouraged by their commitment to helping us achieve our goal and believe it is the right thing to do.”

For its part, Raley's has unveiled an accelerated timeline for its transition, with all of its private label eggs set to go cage-free by this July, and all others brands set to make the change by 2020.

Noting that the decision aligns with Raley's ongoing goal to offer shoppers quality products, Chelsea Minor, the company's director of public relations & public affairs, said: "We are proud to make this quick transition to cage-free eggs on our private-label offerings, where we have authority over the product and supply chain.

“As we make this transition, we will continue to serve as a resource for our customers and their product selections," Minor added.

The moves by Supervalu, Weis and Raley's follow in the wake of similar commitments by Albertsons and Ahold USA.