IKEA U.S. announces the move to cage free eggs
IKEA U.S. announced that as part of its commitment to sustainable food offerings, it will only be selling cage-free eggs* in all its IKEA U.S. restaurants. This supply chain improvement also supports the well-priced food offerings at all IKEA restaurants.
“At IKEA, we want to improve our contribution to a better everyday life through a wider offer of delicious, healthy food that is sustainably produced and well-priced. We trust this latest transition to offering cage free eggs in all our restaurants will be meaningful to our customers while influencing the advance of animal welfare,” stated Gerd Diewald, IKEA US food manager.
“We are pleased to support IKEA in their transition to serving only cage free eggs in their restaurants in the U.S. IKEA sets an impressive standard for businesses wanting to give their customers humane and wholesome options. They know that people want food choices that better reflect their core values including sustainability, positive impact, compassion and health. Making the switch to serving only cage free eggs can deliver that. We applaud IKEA for giving hens in the U.S. a better life,” stated Darren Vanstone, corporate engagement manager for World Animal Protection.
Why cage free eggs?
IKEA believes that good animal welfare practices is an important criteria for high quality food products, and offering cage free eggs is integral to the food offering.
It’s also good for people and the planet, and good for the business.
Cage-free eggs means the chickens are housed in an open concept barn with access to a nest box, perches and scratch area. The chickens are given 147 square inches of space per bird with plenty of room to move around, nest and roost. IKEA restaurants also serve chickens raised with no antibiotics.
IKEA announced in April 2015 that its restaurants would be serving a new veggie ball, GRÖNSAKSBULLAR, a good alternative to the popular IKEA meatball, offering tasty chunks of vegetables and a good protein level to support a main meal. Then later in September, IKEA announced it would only sell and serve fish and seafood in its stores from sustainable and responsible sources certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). This includes all IKEA salmon, certified by the ASC, and all wild caught fish and shrimp served and sold at IKEA, independently certified by the MSC.
*Came into effect August 2016. Whole egg products come from shelled eggs
Top 10 facts about the flock
The inner lives of the intelligent and social hen and the real deal on the eggs they lay
- A big impact: There are 300 million egg laying hens in North America (about 28 million in Canada and the rest in the U.S.) living in small cages
- On most farms: Each hen is forced to live her life in a space smaller than an iPad. She has little room to stretch her wings or turn around
- Be a hero for hens: We have a responsibility to treat the animals who produce our food with respect. Choosing cage-free eggs (organic, free range, free run) gives hens a better life and supports producers and businesses who are doing it right
- What’s in a name: Cage-free/free run labels mean the hens who lay those eggs can move freely in a barn and express behaviours like dust bathing; free range labels mean hens may also get access to the outdoors
- A positive trend: Changing consumer attitudes means that leading businesses and chefs are making the switch to cage-free.
- More than Facebook friends: Chickens form complex social relationships and like hanging out with their peers. A hen can recognize and remember up to 100 other chickens and even tell people apart.
- Almost an egg a day: The average hen lays over 300 eggs per year
- A unique family tree: Chickens are the closest living relative to the Tyrannosaurus Rex. And a chicken was the first bird to have its genome sequenced.
- Sweet dreams! Like people, chickens experience REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which enables them to dream (probably about endless fields of worms!)
- A global presence: Humans and chickens have lived together for thousands of years and chickens are one of the few domesticated animals found worldwide.
Contact: Mona Astra Liss, IKEA Corporate PR Director, Mona.Liss@IKEA.com, 610.834.0180, ext. 5852
About IKEA Group
The IKEA vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. There are currently 340 IKEA Group stores in 28 countries, and 40 franchises. There are 42 IKEA stores in the US. In FY 16, IKEA Group had 783 million visitors to the stores and 2.1 billion visitors to IKEA.com. IKEA incorporates sustainability into day-to-day business and supports initiatives that benefit children and the environment. For more information, please visit www.IKEA.com, facebook.com/IKEAUSA, @IKEAUSANews, @IKEAUSA, http://pinterest.com/IKEAUSA/, www.youtube.com/IKEAUSA, www.theshare-space.com, www.theshare-space.com/en/Blog
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