Sodexo commits to sourcing cage free eggs worldwide by 2025
Sodexo has announced it will only source cage free eggs (both shell and liquid) in every country it operates in by 2025.
The commitment forms part of the firm's animal welfare strategy and demonstrates its efforts towards corporate responsibility.
Sodexo will seek advice from non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners including Compassion in World Farming, Humane Society International, and the Humane League to create an action plan for the next nine years.
It will also reach out to local NGOs as the new commitment is deployed.
Michel Franceschi, Sodexo Group SVP supply management, said: "Our objective is to work collaboratively with our partners to support and contribute to the progressive transformation of the whole industry.
"We will gather all the actors around the table in order to accompany the conversion and the evolution of the local industry so that by 2025, we will be able to source cage free eggs from local producers in each country where we operate."
Neil Barrett, Sodexo Group SVP sustainable development, added: "For a company like Sodexo, with operations in 80 countries at more than 32,000 sites, and who sources approximately a quarter of a billion shell eggs worldwide on an annual basis, addressing animal welfare is a significant undertaking, due to the complexities of our supply chain and differences in agriculture practices around the world.
"Given our commitment to sourcing responsibly, we are focused on building partnerships with suppliers, authorities and farm animal welfare NGOs, to achieve progress and educate stakeholders about the issue."
Sodexo has already been souring 100% cage free eggs in Belgium since 2008. The firm also started doing the same in Austria, Germany and Switzerland in 2015.
The company switched to cage free shell eggs in North America in 2015 and has committed to sourcing all liquid eggs solely from cage free hens, in the region, by the end of 2020.
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