Conad in Italy goes cage free

Published 19/11/2018

Leading Italian retailer, Conad, has announced today that it will sell only cage-free shell eggs across all brands sold in its supermarkets by June 2019.

The announcement follows its decision to go cage free on its own-brand shell eggs in 2017, and represents a crucial step forward for the sector.

Now, all the top five retailers in Italy have either banned, or have made a commitment to ban, the sale of eggs from caged systems, ensuring a better life for millions of hens every year.

As stated in the Conad announcement, last year the sales of Code 3 (caged) eggs fell by 69%, so their plan to phase out cages for laying hens will meet the increasing demand from the market and consumers.

Elisa Bianco, Food Business Manager at CIWF Italy, comments: “We congratulate Conad on their decision to abandon cages across their entire shell egg supply by June 2019. In doing so, they will not only improve the welfare of hundreds of thousands of hens every year, but will be meeting the growing consumer demand for higher welfare, higher quality products. Our Food Business team will continue to work with companies to support the transition to a cage free future.”