Bunge, one of Brazil’s largest food and agribusiness companies, and manufacturer of popular mayonnaise brands Soya, Salada and Primor, announced that it will source only cage-free eggs in its supply chain by 2025. Bunge’s policy follows discussions with Humane Society International, and other organizations. HSI is working with food industry leaders in Brazil and around the globe on the adoption and implementation of animal welfare policies, including cage-free eggs.

Fernanda Vieira, corporate policy and program manager for HSI/Brazil, said: “Consumers care about the way animals are treated in food production and we are glad to see Bunge taking these concerns seriously by committing to this shift to a 100 percent cage-free egg supply chain. Bunge’s cage-free egg policy will improve the lives of tens of thousands of animals and sends a clear message to the egg industry in Brazil that cage-free production systems are the way forward”.

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Egg-laying hens are typically confined for their whole lives in wire battery cages, so small that the hens cannot even fully stretch their wings. Science confirms what common sense tell us, that the lack of space and restriction of movement is detrimental to the physical health of the birds and causes frustration and suffering.

The use of conventional battery cages for laying hens is banned or being phased out under laws or regulations throughout the EU, in five U.S. states and in New Zealand and Bhutan. Officials in the majority of states in India, the world’s third largest egg producer, have declared that the use of battery cages violates the country’s animal welfare legislation, and the country is debating a national ban.

Bunge joins other leading food manufacturers and restaurant companies, including Unilever, Cargill, Nestlé, the largest food company in the world, Burger King and Arcos Dorados, which operates McDonald’s in Brazil and 19 other countries in the region, in committing to switching to 100 percent cage-free eggs. Alsea, the largest restaurant operator in Latin America and Spain, and Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest bakery company, announced cage-free egg policies after several years of talks with HSI. Other leading corporations like BFFC, Grupo Trigo, AccorHotels, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Subway, IMC, Barilla, Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, Giraffas, Divino Fogão, and Habib’s have also pledged to go cage-free in Brazil.

Media contact:
Fernanda Vieira, fvieira@hsi.org, 11 9 8905 3848