Open letter to Coles and Woolworths
Australia’s leading animal protection organisations have united to urge Woolworths and Coles to honour their long-standing commitments to go cage-free by the end of 2025.
Image: Farm Transparency Project
To the Chief Executive Officers of Coles and Woolworths
Broken promises leave hens suffering in battery cages
In 2013, you promised customers to phase out battery cage eggs from your supply chains and were publicly applauded for your leadership. We’re writing to express our disappointment with your recent decision to delay your 2025 phase out commitment and call on you to uphold your promise to Australians by prioritising animal welfare.
Battery cages are cruel and unnecessary. They confine hens to a barren space smaller than an A4 sheet of paper, preventing them from stretching their wings, scratching the ground, or expressing any natural behaviours. They cause the highest rates of disuse osteoporosis, fatty liver disease, and bone breakage of all egg farming systems.
This is not consistent with Australian values or consumer expectations. As research shows, eight in ten Australians want to see hens out of cages, reflecting strong community concern that only continues to grow as more people come to understand the cruelty of battery cages.
Your efforts to move towards 100% cage-free shell eggs and cage-free egg ingredients by 2025 have helped halve the number of hens trapped in cages from approximately ten million in 2013 to an estimated five million in 2025.
But your recent decision to delay your commitments will mean more hens will suffer for longer. This is the cruel reality of your broken promise.
Please, Coles and Woolworths, do the right thing. Heed the call of Australian consumers who have made their voice clear and uphold your promise to be 100% cage-free by the end of 2025. Aussie hens deserve a life worth living.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Jed Goodfellow, Co-founder, Director, Policy, Australian Alliance for Animals
Nicola Beynon, Director, Campaigns, Humane World for Animals
Rebecca Linigen, National Director, FOUR PAWS Australia
Ben Pearson, Country Director, Australia and NZ, World Animal Protection
Ondine Sherman, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Voiceless