The cage-free eggs movement in China has gathered pace in recent years, with retailers wanting to move on from past food safety issues linked to eggs, such as melamine and antibiotics scandals.
Various major egg producers in the country such as Tudama and Happy Egg previously voiced commitments to increase their supply of cage-free eggs or even completely transform their production, and the movement has also seen support from various government bodies and local consumers.
Most recently, this support has gone up another level with national retail major Ole Supermarket announcing its commitment to transform its egg supply over the next 10 years.
Ole Supermarket is a high-end local retail platform with over 100 stores across China, and is one of the most recognised retail names in the country.
“We are committed to providing a more sustainable environment as well as encouraging consumers to make healthier consumption choices [as a major] retail platform in China,” Ole Supermarket spokesman Tao Zhiqin told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“Cage-free eggs is an important strategy towards this goal, and we are seeing a gradual increase in the proportion of cage-free eggs across Olé supermarket nationwide.
“Our goal is to reach 100% cage-free egg procurement by 2035.”
As of 2024, Ole Supermarket has reached 50% of its egg SKUs sold in China being cage-free.
“Moving forward, we also plan to partner with leading egg suppliers such as Happy Egg to launch specialised cage-free egg sections in some of our key markets,” he added.
“This will start with markets like Shenzhen, Haikou and the Northern regions, but will subsequently see a strategic rollout to expand to Ole outlets nationwide.”
Local cage-free sector stakeholders have voiced their enthusiasm in Ole’s initiative, including consultancy firm Lever China which has established itself as a leader in this area.
“The successful promotion of Olé’s cage-free egg section will provide valuable experience [and set an example] for other retail enterprises,” Lever China Sustainability Programme Lead Bing Lam added.
“[Its new initiative] to sell 100% cage-free eggs will not only bring consumers healthier and safer protein, it also injects new vitality and momentum into the sustainable development of the retail industry.”
Cage-free egg advancements
European Food Safety Authority research has shown that cage-free farms show up to 25 times lower contamination risk by key salmonella bacteria strains, providing an argument for better health and food safety benefits.
This is one of the reasons that not only China but also multinational corporations such as Nestle and Mondelez have expressed interest in this area.
The latter has launched a 100% cage-free eggs cake brand Solite Nature Fresh in Vietnam, and its egg supply in the United States and Canada has been completely cage-free since 2021.
This is not yet so in Asia, but plans are in place for its global egg supply, including Asia, to be cage-free within this year (with the exception of Russia and Ukraine).
