Retailers may struggle to fulfill cage-free egg vows

Foodservice businesses may have an easier time living up to their promises to source only cage-free eggs than retailers, Cal-Maine Foods CEO Dolph Baker said.

Roy Graber Headshot
Photo by Andrea Gantz
Photo by Andrea Gantz

Foodservice businesses may have an easier time living up to their promises to source only cage-free eggs than retailers, Cal-Maine Foods CEO Dolph Baker said.

During the Stephens Spring Investment Conference on June 6, Stephens Inc. Managing Director and analyst Farha Aslam asked Baker if companies that have vowed to source only cage-free eggs will be able to live up to those timelines, which varied from almost immediately to 2025.

“Our customers at foodservice, I think it will be a little easier for them to make their goals,” Baker responded, indicating that for those businesses eggs are largely used as ingredients. “I think it might be a little more difficult at retail when you are talking about a retail product that might be $1.25 to $1.50 more than a dozen caged eggs. I think we’ll just have to see how it plays out. Right now, there is a much greater demand for commodity eggs at these low prices than there is for cage-free eggs.”

Cal-Maine Foods is the world’s largest egg producer. At the conclusion of 2016, the company had a flock of 37.94 million hens, according to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database.

There is currently an oversupply of cage-free eggs

Baker pointed out that for now, there is currently an oversupply of cage-free eggs. He said that following the avian influenza outbreak of 2015, many of the egg producers that did not have flocks affected by avian influenza and did not have restocking expenses, “plowed a lot of money back into the market, particularly the cage-free market, so currently it is overproduced today.

The difference in retail prices of cage-free eggs and the less expensive eggs produced with the use of cages has been noticed by consumers, and reports have indicated that many shoppers are not willing to pay extra for cage-free eggs.

Comprehensive resource for cage-free eggs available

A new collection of exclusive articles, blogs and infographics on Cage-free Eggs and Consumer Trust in the Poultry Industry, written by trusted WATT Global Media editors and industry experts will equip egg producers and marketers with information to help them make critical business decisions. Purchase your copy.

Page 1 of 67
Next Page