Meijer, Raley's and Weis Markets Join Retailers with Plans to Source Cage-Free Eggs

Meijer, Raley's Family of Fine Stores and Weis Markets have joined a growing group of food retailers, restaurant chains and food manufacturers with plans to source only cage-free eggs. 

Meijer is setting a goal to sell only eggs sourced from cage-free farms by the year 2025. Meijer currently sells numerous varieties of eggs, including cage free, free range and traditional. The majority of eggs sold in Meijer stores are sourced from farms in the state of Michigan that have been working with the Meijer family for more than 50 years. 

"Although our current volume of cage-free egg sales is relatively low, we continue to see shopping trends shifting toward cage free," says Peter Whitsett, executive vice president of merchandising for the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer. "We are in the business of providing customers with choices, and setting this goal will ensure we are ready for the transition when our customers are."

Meijer will continue to work with its egg supplier partners to ensure its customers have the choices they want and its supply of eggs remains the highest quality at the best price.

Raley’s Family of Fine Stores will transition all private-label eggs to cage-free by July, 2016. The company has been steadily increasing offerings, allowing customers to make the best choice for their personal purchase needs. The decision aligns with Raley’s ongoing goal to offer customers quality products they desire, say company officials. 

In addition, Raley’s has set a goal of sourcing only cage-free eggs for all other brands by 2020, based on availability. Raley’s is committed to work with farmers and suppliers to ensure product is affordable, safe and available for all of our customers.

“We are proud to make this quick transition to cage-free eggs on our private-label offerings, where we have authority over the product and supply chain,” says Chelsea Minor, director of public relations & public affairs. “As we make this transition, we will continue to serve as a resource for our customers and their product selections.”  

Weis Markets has established a goal to convert its entire egg category to be 100 percent cage-free by 2026.

“Our goal is to convert our egg category to be 100 percent cage-free by 2026,” says Richard Gunn, Weis Markets’ senior vice president of merchandising and marketing.  “In the coming years, we will be working with our locally-based egg suppliers to implement our program. This is an enormous undertaking for our egg suppliers and involves an extensive conversion process. We are encouraged by their commitment to helping us achieve our goal and believe it is the right thing to do.”