Unilever has become the latest target for animal welfare campaigners after the Hellman’s owner quietly dropped a global pledge for cage-free eggs.
“Unilever’s decision reflects a bet against the market,” said Brooke Fane, senior corporate campaign lead, at The Humane League. “Cage-free sourcing is no longer aspirational; it’s operational. Reversing course now puts Unilever on the wrong side of that shift,” Fane added.
More than 2,800 companies globally – including over 180 major multinational corporations – have committed to cage-free egg sourcing, and cage-free production continues to expand rapidly worldwide.
Companies such as Kellanova, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Grupo Bimbo, and Nestlé have maintained global cage-free commitments.
In 2024, companies fulfilled roughly 92% of their cage-free commitments globally, while governments, including the UK, are advancing bans on cages.
The UK Government unveiled its animal welfare strategy in December. Billed as the biggest animal welfare reforms in a generation, Defra noted how legislation, regulations and current practices have not kept pace with the latest evidence.
Proposals aimed at improving welfare for farmed animals include moving away from confinement systems such as colony cages for laying hens and the use of pig farrowing crates.
“We are committed to improving the lives of farm animals and to supporting farmers to produce food sustainably, profitably and to the high standards consumers expect,” said farming minister Dame Angela Eagle as she announced two consultations in January – one on phasing out cages for laying hens by 2032 and a second on updating the Sheep Welfare Code with the aim of minimising pain during lamb castration and tail docking.
Unilever first committed in March 2018 to sourcing only cage-free eggs across its global supply chain, a move that helped position the company as an industry leader on animal welfare. That commitment applied to all regions and markets.
However, in a recent update to its website, Unilever removed its global cage-free pledge, limiting its commitment to Europe and North America and leaving millions of hens in other regions confined in cages.
As one of the world’s largest food manufacturers, Unilever’s egg sourcing decisions affect an estimated 1.38 billion eggs – and nearly 5 million hens – every year, including more than 1.3 million hens in emerging markets where cage-free protections remain weakest, said The Humane League.
The campaigners said limiting animal welfare protections to select regions “creates a troubling double standard”.
Last month the British Egg Industry Council warned that the government’s commitment to move towards cage-free systems for all laying hens is being undermined by its import policies.
Writing in the current issue of Poultry Business, BEIC chief executive Nick Allen explained: “Eggs laid by hens kept in barren battery cages have been banned in the UK since 2012, yet the government’s trade strategy continues to allow them to be imported. This has led to millions of battery cage eggs entering the UK market every year, from countries such as Ukraine.”
Research by the council suggested a particular issue with foodservice, where country of origin and the production system are “often hidden from view. Our research shows consumers already feel misled when imported egg products appear in foods such as quiches, sandwiches or mayonnaise,” Allen wrote.
