Restaurant Brands International (RBI) -- the parent company of Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons – offered its first progress report on its efforts to fulfill its commitment to source only cage-free eggs.
In some markets, the company has already fully transitioned to sourcing only cage-free shell eggs. Those markets include Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. However, the company did not specify whether liquid eggs or egg products sourced in these regions are from cage-free hens.
RBI also noted that it is on track to use 100% cage-free eggs in the U.S., western Europe, Latin America by the end of 2025, as well as at the Burger King and Popeyes locations in Canada. Those markets, as well as Australia and New Zealand, account for about 39% of the company’s global egg requirements, RBI stated.
Available supply for Tim Horton’s in Canada presently lacking
While RBI said it is progressing toward its goals for Canadian Burger King and Popeyes locations, the situation for Tim Hortons is more of a challenge.
“The most significant change to our cage-free egg goals is related to Tim Hortons Canada, which today represents about 47% of our global egg requirements, and for which we now expect to achieve 100% compliance by the end of 2030,” the company stated. “This change is a result of a limited availability of cage-free egg supply in the short term, as the proportion of farms in Canada that have transitioned to cage-free systems has evolved more slowly than anticipated, due to limited demand from consumers and other retailers in the market. We remain committed to working hand-in-hand with our suppliers and farmers to expand this supply, and introducing it into restaurants in a way that is affordable for guests.”
Elsewhere on Earth
In other regions of the world where the cage-free egg supply is also limited, RBI intends to complete a full transition to cage-free eggs by 2030 or earlier.
“We rely on farmers and vendors around the world that serve the 100+ countries we operate in to be able to directly and indirectly supply the large volume of eggs that we require and to do so affordably. In countries where no supply exists today, we believe that creating global demand will encourage suppliers to make changes to meet our policy requirements,” RBI stated.
“We’ve been working closely with suppliers and farmers to plan for the investments needed in new production systems that will support this transition. While COVID-19 and other external factors have impacted our progress to date more than we hoped, we continue to work together on a plan to move to 100% for all markets around the world.”
