MINNEAPOLIS – SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE: SVU) announced that it plans to transition to selling 100 percent cage-free eggs at its grocery retail banners by 2025 or sooner based on available supply, affordability and customer demand. Currently, cage-free eggs account for nearly 12 percent of the company’s total grocery retail egg sales.
“Our decision to move toward selling only cage-free eggs reflects our ongoing commitment to improving animal welfare practices across the industry,” said Mark Van Buskirk, SUPERVALU’s executive vice president, merchandising, marketing and retail. “Because there is currently a limited supply of cage-free eggs, the transition will take time. We will continue to work with our suppliers to move as quickly as possible toward a sustainable, 100 percent cage-free egg supply chain.”
In August 2015, SUPERVALU announced that all of its Wild Harvest shell egg products would be cage-free by the end of last year. Today, the Wild Harvest brand sells only 100 percent cage-free eggs.
“Our national Wild Harvest brand was a natural starting point for understanding customer interest and support for cage-free eggs,” said Van Buskirk. “We also offer additional store brand assortments that are 100 percent cage-free, and as the available supply increases, we will continue to expand our cage-free egg offerings.”
The company plans to report annually on its progress toward a 100 percent cage-free egg offering.
About SUPERVALU
SUPERVALU INC. is one of the largest grocery wholesalers and retailers in the U.S. with annual sales of approximately $18 billion. SUPERVALU serves customers across the United States through a network of 3,407 stores composed of 1,871 independent stores serviced primarily by the company’s food distribution business; 1,336 Save-A-Lot stores, of which 883 are operated by licensee owners; and 200 traditional retail grocery stores (store counts as of December 5, 2015). Headquartered in Minnesota, SUPERVALU has approximately 40,000 employees. For more information about SUPERVALU, visit www.supervalu.com.
Source: SUPERVALU
