Update: As of May 2023, Bite Me Softly has published that it no longer buys eggs from caged hens.
BANGKOK, Thailand—Bite Me Softly, a leading restaurant brand in Bangkok, is set to make a significant stride in animal welfare with its adoption of a cage-free egg policy. By 2024, the brand will exclusively use cage-free eggs (shell and liquid eggs) in all of its offerings, extending this commitment to the products it supplies to other restaurants.
Bite Me Softly began as an online retailer specializing in pre-order bakery and pies and has since transformed into a hidden café and restaurant. Serving home-cooked comfort Thai Chinese fusion food and bakery items, the company recognizes its role in fostering an eco-friendly society. In line with this responsibility, Bite Me Softly has taken a proactive stance by implementing a policy to exclusively source eggs from cage-free systems. This move is regarded as an important move towards sustainability underlining the company’s dedication to responsible practices for animals.
Ms. Tawjan Punyasingh, owner and executive chef of Bite Me Softly, says: “My wish is to be a small cog that encourages change for continuous improvement. My love for all animals immediately triggers me to say yes to this commitment and implementation. Our focus is to improve animal welfare and today, over 50% of our brand is cage-free and we can confirm that all eggs will be 100% cage-free in 2024.”
In 2020, Thailand kept 94.8 million egg-laying hens (according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations database), typically confined in wire cages so small that they cannot freely spread their wings. Cage-free production systems provide a much higher level of welfare, allowing the birds to express their natural behavior, including ground scratching and pecking, laying their eggs in nests, perching and fully spreading their wings, which are all scientifically documented behavioral needs.
Lalada Tangjerdjaras, program manager for Humane Society International in Thailand’s Farm Animal Welfare and Protection program, celebrated the announcements: “Bite Me Softly has taken an important first step to improve the welfare of farm animals by providing these sentient beings with enough room to spread their wings, and HSI is excited to be part of this growing global movement by working with stakeholders here on the ground in Thailand. Bite Me Softly is sending a clear message to the egg industry and related stakeholders: in Thailand, the future of egg production is cage-free.”
Bite Me Softly joins other local restaurants like Gyudon House, Trust Me I’m Chef, and Go Coffee & Ice Cream along with multinationals like Minor Food and Marriott pledging to stop buying eggs from caged hens. With more than 2,000 corporations all around the globe—such as Burger King, Bimbo, Accor having committed to go cage-free—Thailand is part of a global trend toward cage-free eggs.
HSI’s work to improve the welfare of animals in agriculture is both science-based and collaborative. The organization works with companies, farmers, processors, scientists and certifiers to support a transition to cage-free housing systems, and offers a wide range of support to companies including farm visits, consumer education, and corporate roundtables and workshops to enhance their supply chains.
ENDS
Media contact: Lalada Tangjerdjaras, farm animal protection program manager at HSI : ltangjerdjaras@hsi.org
