Sodexo commits to cage-free eggs

Sodexo said it will source only cage-free eggs worldwide by 2025, the latest in its series of commitments aimed at improving animal welfare and sustainability practices.

As part of its Better Tomorrow Plan, Sodexo last year pledged to eliminate crate-raised veal from its supply chain by 2017 and to source all liquid eggs from cage-free hens by 2020. Its latest pledge extends its cage-free commitment to all eggs, including shell varieties.

After receiving pressure from students, Sodexo’s operation at Binghamton University in Binghampton, N.Y., offered the option to switch to cage-free eggs last year.

The vendor will be advised internationally by nongovernmental organization partners in Compassion in World Farming, Humane Society International and The Humane League to help devise a transition plan for the company and its suppliers.

“Our objective is to work collaboratively with our partners to support and contribute to the progressive transformation of the whole industry,” Michel Franceschi, Sodexo Group SVP of supply management, said in a statement. “We will gather all the actors around the table in order to accompany the conversion and the evolution of the local industry so that by 2025, we will be able to source cage free eggs from local produces in each country where we operate.”

Overseas, Sodexo has sourced 100% cage-free eggs in Belgium since 2008, and in Austria, Germany and Switzerland since 2015.

Sodexo sources approximately a quarter of a billion shell eggs worldwide annually, according to a statement by Neil Barrett, Sodexo Group VP of sustainable development. Barrett noted the switch would be complex, but said the company is “focused on building partnerships with suppliers, authorities and farm animal welfare NGOs to achieve progress and educate stakeholders about the issue.”