INFOGRAPHIC: 103 food industry brands to pledge cage free in 2016

The number of companies in the U.S. and Canada that have pledged to source only cage-free eggs has grown exponentially during the first four months of 2016.

WATT Global Media has created an infographic that takes a look at the businesses that have announced it will phase out the use and sale of eggs from caged hens in 2016.

Companies that made similar commitments prior to 2016 are not included in this infographic, but a similar infographic of companies that in the last six months of 2015 vowed to use cage-free eggs can be seen on WATTAgNet.

Close to 50 grocery chains with a presence in North America have pledged to transition into selling only cage-free eggs. Nearly 40 restaurant chain groups have also promised to phase out the use of eggs from caged hens. A number of foodservice companies, food processors and travel-related companies have announced similar pledges.

According to information released by United Egg Producers (UEP), U.S. egg producers will need to produce more than 37 billion cage-free eggs annually. That means that the country’s cage-free flock will need to increase by more than 900 percent by 2030.

The timelines concerning when the companies intend to complete their transitions vary, ranging from later in 2016 to ten years from now.