McDonald’s Makes Strides Toward Promise of Only Using Cage-Free Eggs By 2025

Making good on its 10-year pledge to source 100 percent cage-free eggs by 2025—which would be more than 2.2 billion eggs—McDonald’s announced today that it is 33 percent of the way there, according to QSR Magazine.

Farms that supply eggs to McDonald’s have incorporated a variety of solutions to address this commitment, including significant investments of time, finances and technology. QSR indicates that farmers have built new barns or incorporated infrastructure updates like remote-controlled lighting and temperature regulation. For its part, the fast-food giant reportedly hosts an annual “Cage-Free Egg Summit” for suppliers to discuss best practices and solutions in an open forum.

“As McDonald’s USA’s egg supplier, the commitment they made to source 100 percent cage-free eggs represented a shift not only for our business with them, but for the industry, given their position as a leader,” the article quotes Norm Stocker, Vice President of Food Service—Poultry at Cargill. “Consumer preferences are changing and people are increasingly interested in how their food is sourced. McDonald’s has led the way, with a thoughtful and measured approach to switching to cage-free eggs to meet consumer demand at a massive size and scale.”