WattAgNet: 9 major restaurant chains switching to cage-free eggs

Written February 1, 2016 By Roy Graber
Burger King, Tim Hortons, Sonic, Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr., Bob Evans, White Castle and P.F. Chang’s agree to transition to cage-free eggs by 2025 while California Pizza Kitchen will make the change by 2022

North America-based restaurant chains Burger King, Tim Hortons, Sonic, Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, Bob Evans, White Castle, P.F. Chang’s and California Pizza Kitchen have joined the movement to source only cage-free eggs.

Those nine restaurants are being joined by Starwood Hotels and Resorts in eliminating eggs from caged hens.

The nine businesses have become a part of a growing list of companies to commit to cage-free eggs. Earlier in 2016, Target, ConAgra, Campbell’s, Mondel?z International, Norwegian Cruise Line, Denny’s, Quiznos and Wendy’s announced their plans to source only eggs from cage-free farms.

Burger King and Tim Hortons
Restaurant Brands International, parent company of Burger King and Tim Hortons, announced it plans to fully transition to cage-free eggs at all of its locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico by 2025.

The company further stated its intent to transition to 100-percent cage-free eggs in all of its locations worldwide, but did not establish a timeline.

Burger King operates more than 14,000 restaurants in approximately 100 countries and U.S. territories. Tim Hortons operates more than 4,700 restaurants including 3,773 in Canada and 892 in the U.S.

Sonic
Sonic, like Burger King and Tim Hortons, plans to eliminate all eggs from caged hens by 2025. The company, according to a press release, purchases 155 million eggs to serve 81 million breakfast burritos and breakfast toaster sandwiches.

“Today’s customer wants to know their food is sourced responsibly,” said Cliff Hudson, Sonic CEO. “Our announcement today reinforces Sonic’s continued commitment to the care and welfare of the animals in our supply chain and transparent communication with our customers about our practices.”

Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.
CKE Restaurants, parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., announced that it would transition all of its egg supply to cage-free eggs by 2025, subject to the availability of egg supplies “that have not been further reduced do to unforeseen, catastrophic events such as the loss of nearly  40 million egg-laying hens in 2015 as a result of avian influenza.”

CKE has more than 3,600 franchised or company-owned restaurants in 44 states and 36 foreign countries and U.S. territories.

Bob Evans
Ohio-based Bob Evans plans to switch to 100-percent cage-free eggs at all of its restaurants by 2025.

The company intends to work with its supplier network to ensure an “orderly and efficient implementation” of its cage-free egg policy.

“"For several years, we have been working closely with our suppliers and independent animal welfare experts to determine optimal sourcing for eggs, considering our guests' preferences as well as the economics and sustainability of our supply chain," said Saed Mohseni, president and CEO of Bob Evans Farms. "We have determined that consistent with the foregoing, evolving to source only 100 percent cage-free eggs on this time frame is the right path for the company to pursue."

According to a press release from Bob Evans, the company serves more than 100 million eggs annually.

White Castle
White Castle, which operates nearly 400 restaurants in 13 states, announced it intends to switch to cage-free eggs by 2025.

“Switching to cage-free eggs is something we’ve seriously considered since we began looking at the issue, and today’s announcement represents us being responsive to customer preferences,” said Jamie Richardson, vice president of White Castle. “We’re proud to serve our guests foods that both comes at a value and aligns with their values.”

P.F. Chang’s
P.F. Chang’s, a U.S. based restaurant chain specializing in Asian-inspired cuisine, announced in late January it will work with its suppliers to transition to cage-free eggs by 2025. In a statement, the company said it was making the decision to be “consistent with the restaurant industry’s focus on sourcing cage-free eggs.”

It operates more than 200 restaurants in 39 states.

California Pizza Kitchen
California Pizza Kitchen, which operates nearly 300 restaurants in 15 countries and 217 cities, plans to fully transition to cage-free eggs by 2022.

“We are in the process of working with our suppliers to chart our transition and look forward to providing updates on our progress soon,” the company stated. “We know this is important to our customers and we believe it is the right thing to do, which is why we are committed to making this change.”

Starwood Hotels and Resorts
In its Sustainable Food & Beverage Policy, Starwood Hotels and Resorts stated that it plans to source all of its eggs from cage-free farms by  2020. The company further stated that many of its hotels already use cage-free eggs.

Starwood operates more than 12,700 properties in about 100 countries.