WattAgNet: Costco said there weren’t enough cage-free eggs

Written January 6, 2016
Between 2007 and now, supply has changed enough for company to begin making the transition

In 2007, Costco Wholesale Corp. said there was not enough cage-free egg production for the company to have a cage-free purchasing policy. Now, nine years later, the company has announced its intent to commit to change to cage-free eggs in its stores.

In 2007, Costco Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Merchandising Craig Jelinek said in the Portland Oregonian that the company had set a goal of offering eggs only from cage-free layers. But U.S. egg producers did not supply enough cage-free eggs to meet Costco’s needs then, he said.

While the company has not yet revealed a timeline when it would fully transition into selling only cage-free eggs, it stated that it is working with its suppliers to determine when a realistic transition goal would be.

Costco issued the following statement on its website: “Costco is committed to going cage?free for its egg procurement. Since 2006, we have already substantially increased our percentage of cage?free eggs: in fiscal 2006 cage?free eggs represented 2 percent of eggs we sold and today they represent 26 percent. In calendar 2016 we expect to sell over 1 billion cage free eggs.”

With the announcement, Costco joins a large list of companies announcing a transition to cage-free eggs. Others to make a commitment include  McDonald’s, Subway, Shake Shack, Dunkin’ Donuts, Jack in the Box, Qdoba, Taco Bell, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Caribou Coffee, Panera Bread, Arby’s, Royal Caribbean, Carnival Corporation, General Mills, Kellogg, and Hilton Hotels.