McDonald's will make the transition to cage-free eggs in the U.S. by 2025, reports Bloomberg. The company is about a third of the way to meeting that goal and the premium for cage-free eggs is already eroding. In February, a dozen cage-free eggs cost 81 cents more than conventional eggs, representing a premium of just over 50 percent. In 2017, cage-free eggs were double the price of regular eggs. The gap is expected to continue declining.
McDonald's buys about 2 billion eggs per year, which is close to 2 percent of annual production in the U.S. And there are numerous other restaurant chains and large companies that are transitioning to cage-free eggs as well.
"The supply-and-demand equation will change such that pricing will go down," says Marion Gross, head of supply chain at McDonald's in the U.S. As a result, "more people will be able to afford cage-free eggs." Gross says it wasn't McDonald's intention to shake up the egg market but "if that helps bring access to others, that's a great add-on benefit." Full Story
Related: Cage-Free Egg Commitments Will Cost $7 Billion; Nellie's Free Range Eggs Sued for Misrepresentation.
from Specialty Food News http://bit.ly/2VCQ3KH
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