Britain | Breaks-it

The unstoppable rise of free-range eggs in Britain

Since 2006 annual production of free-range eggs has doubled

IN THE past decade British chickens have laid about 100bn eggs, with most of them coming from caged hens. A change of EU regulations in 2012 banned the smallest battery cages, but chicken-lovers say this is not enough. Footage secretly obtained by Animal Aid, a campaign group, in Lincolnshire in 2013 showed caged chickens barely able to move. Now consumers’ changing tastes may do more than Eurocrats ever could. The latest edition of the government’s quarterly egg statistics suggests that in the third quarter farms produced about as many free-range eggs as caged-hen ones (see chart). These days, retailers crow about their pro-chicken credentials. Marks & Spencer, an upmarket chain, has a 100% free-range egg policy. The signs are that Britons will continue to shell out for free-range. Lidl, a discounter, told The Grocer, a magazine, that it would stop selling caged-hen eggs by 2025. Free-range eggs have become more expensive relative to other sorts, so more farmers will produce them. But concerns for animal welfare go only so far. Sales of organic eggs, which cost over twice as much as caged-hen ones, have come off the boil.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline "Breggs-it"

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