Iceland Super market to go completely cage-free across it egg supply by June 2027
Iceland supermarket – the fourth largest retailer of caged eggs in the UK – has confirmed a new timetable to go completely cage-free across it egg supply by June 2027. Photo: Canva
Pressure on one of the UK’s supermarkets, Iceland, has led the company to commit to cage-free eggs by 2027.
In 2016, Iceland had been one of the many retailers to say it would meet this commitment by 2025, but earlier this year the company said it was unable to do so due to supply chain disruptions and the cost-of-living crisis.
Now the supermarket – currently the fourth largest retailer of caged eggs in the UK – has confirmed a new timetable to go completely cage-free across it egg supply by June 2027. It said its decision builds on the launch of its RSPCA Assured barn egg pilot across 35 stores, which expands the range of egg welfare options already available.
Balancing welfare and cost-of-living crisis
Stuart Lundrum, director of product, process and sustainability at Iceland Foods: “We’ve always been honest about the challenge of balancing improved animal welfare with the urgent need to help families through the cost-of-living crisis. That’s why we never stopped offering free-range eggs, and why we introduced barn eggs as an affordable additional higher animal welfare option.”
He added: “Now, after months of work with our suppliers, we’re pleased to set a new timetable delivering investment and increased capacity in British barn egg production enabling our transition to cage-free by June 2027.”
An affordable option
The transition to 2027 will be supported by the rollout of an affordable higher welfare barn egg option to all Iceland stores by January 2026. Iceland has seen sales of caged eggs decline by almost 15% in the last year.
Part of that decline is likely to have been due to pressure from animal welfare groups. RSPCA Assured welcomed the new commitment but said it was disappointing to see the timeline pushed back to mid-2027.
“The majority of retailers have either fully transitioned to cage-free or retain their commitment to do so by the end of this year, which means that Iceland may very well stand alone as a retailer which still sells eggs from caged hens. As a result, they may even find it difficult to source eggs from caged hens as the demand diminishes across the supermarket sector. However, these commitments only cover whole, shell eggs so we’d also urge retailers to source eggs from cage-fee hens as ingredients in their pre-packaged products, such as cakes and pies, too.”
Steady progress in UK egg industry
A report released by Compassion in World Farming in July said the UK egg industry is now 82% cage-free and major retailers such as Tesco, Lidl, Aldi were making steady progress. Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Waitrose have been 100% cage-free across both shell eggs and egg products for years.
Figures from Kantar in May showed that 87% of shell eggs sold in UK retail are now cage-free – up from 78.5% at the turn of the year.
“Prioritising profits”
At the time of the report, Philip Lymbery, Compassion in World Farming CEO, described Iceland’s stance as “shameful”, saying it was prioritising profits over moral ethics. “Everyone deserves access to higher welfare food, regardless of their income.
"Source: Poultry world"
