A new program from Baldor Specialty Foods will aid foodservice companies looking to source cage-free eggs.
“Baldor is a foodservice distributor focused on the specialty network,” Emily Murphy, director of merchandising at Baldor Specialty Foods, said. “We cater to and source for the chef who has control over their menu.”
Over the past decade, hundreds of businesses in the U.S., including restaurants, food processors, foodservice companies, grocery retailers, hospitality companies and distributors, pledged to go 100% cage free.
However, within the layer industry there is still significant uncertainty about the ability to meet these goals, with some industry experts calling the cage-free transition financially and logistically impossible, due to the number of hens and investment needed to meet pledges and state housing laws.
How the Cage-Free Commitment Program works
The distributor’s Cage-Free Commitment program gives customers the option to automatically substitute cage-free egg products in their shopping cart. If desired, they can always swap back to a non-cage free egg product at checkout.
“We realize that the decision-maker in the restaurant may be wanting a cage-free egg, but whoever is placing the order may not be executing that way. This is a way for the Baldor team and restaurant community to go hand and hand and take the commitment and ensure that everyone is doing their part to put the better egg in the basket,” she added.
The Cage-Free Commitment program follows the company’s Pledge Local commitment, designed to “make it easier than ever for Baldor customers to access locally grown, in-season produce.”
Baldor Specialty Foods is one of the largest importers and distributors of fresh produce and specialty foods in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, according to their website. Among the farms that Baldor sources cage-free eggs from are Vital Farms and Handsome Brook Farms.
