PoultryWorld: First cage-free barn opened in Vietnam

Vietnam joins other Southeast Asian countries in the movement to promote cage-free eggs with the opening of the country’s first commercial cage-free barn.

 

With thousands of egg producers in the country, Vietnam’s 77.07 million hens laid 8.2 billion eggs in 2019, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. With the mounting shift in consumer demand, director of Nam Huong, an established mid-scale egg producer, Le Van Hoa sees the future as cage-free. Nam Huong’s current capacity is 700,000 laying hens, which produce about 200 million battery cage eggs per year.

Free-range living for 3,000 laying hens

According to Hoa, Vietnam is 1 of the fast-growing economic countries in the region. “I have seen the cage-free egg movement growing in our neighbouring countries, such as Thailand and Malaysia. Consumers’ concern regarding animal welfare is increasing and I am expecting Nam Huong will be one of the first producers in Vietnam to make the switch to cage-free housing.” This first step in the transition to cage-free housing for Nam Huong will mean free-range living for about 3,000 laying hens in the first year.

 

Natalie Berkhout

Freelance journalist