Five Countdown stores completely remove eggs produced by chickens in cages

Five Countdown supermarkets are no longer selling eggs produced by chickens in cages in a bid to eventually only stock free range and barn eggs.

The supermarket giant announced in 2017 it would attempt to be cage free in all "on shelf" eggs by the end of 2024 in the North Island, and the end of 2025 in the South Island. 

The stores are those in Auckland's Waiheke Island, Milford, Grey Lynn, and Crofton Downs and Newtown in Wellington.

“Animal welfare is a key concern for our business and our customers, but we’re highly aware that people make purchasing decisions based on a range of factors, including price and what they’re using eggs for," general manager for corporate affairs Kiri Hannifin said.

"While moving five stores to completely cage-free is a big shift, in these particular stores around 90 per cent of customers are already telling us that cage-free is important to them, so we hope they’ll embrace the change to completely cage-free.” 

According to the Egg Producers Federation of New Zealand, three per cent of commercially farmed eggs purchased in New Zealand are from barn operations.

Around 30 per cent of commercially produced eggs purchased in NZ are free range, with consumption increasing at one per cent a year.