Animal Equality

US supermarket giant Ahold Delhaize (Food Lion, Giant, Stop & Shop) is taking major new steps to eliminate cages from its supply chain. A decade ago, most top US food companies pledged to end gestation crates for pigs and battery cages for hens — extreme confinement systems that 85%+ of Americans oppose. Many followed through. Costco and McDonald's are now almost entirely cage-free and crate-free, which they've achieved without raising prices. But the five biggest US supermarket owners — Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Ahold Delhaize, and Aldi — all missed their 2025 cage-free deadlines. Ahold was amongst the worst. It insisted it would now go cage-free by 2032 but refused to share any plans or progress. (We now know it was at just 25% cage-free.) Advocates spent the past year educating Ahold’s customers about the reality behind the eggs it sells under labels like “farm fresh” (none disclose that they're from caged animals). Today Ahold reversed course. It published clear milestones to reach 100% cage-free eggs — and reported significant progress on eliminating gestation crates. Of course, these changes should have happened years ago. It shouldn't have required a campaign for Ahold to fulfill its own animal welfare policies. But this is real progress. It will spare millions of hens and pigs from a lifetime in immobilizing cages and crates. Huge credit to the advocates who held Ahold accountable and made this happen. Now it's time for Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, and Aldi to follow suit.

US supermarket giant Ahold Delhaize (Food Lion, Giant, Stop & Shop) is taking major new steps to eliminate cages from its supply chain. A decade ago, most top US food companies pledged to end gestation crates for pigs and battery cages for hens — extreme confinement systems that 85%+ of Americans oppose. Many followed through. Costco and McDonald's are now almost entirely cage-free and crate-free, which they've achieved without raising prices. But the five biggest US supermarket owners — Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Ahold Delhaize, and Aldi — all missed their 2025 cage-free deadlines. Ahold was amongst the worst. It insisted it would now go cage-free by 2032 but refused to share any plans or progress. (We now know it was at just 25% cage-free.) Advocates spent the past year educating Ahold’s customers about the reality behind the eggs it sells under labels like “farm fresh” (none disclose that they're from caged animals). Today Ahold reversed course. It published clear milestones to reach 100% cage-free eggs — and reported significant progress on eliminating gestation crates. Of course, these changes should have happened years ago. It shouldn't have required a campaign for Ahold to fulfill its own animal welfare policies. But this is real progress. It will spare millions of hens and pigs from a lifetime in immobilizing cages and crates. Huge credit to the advocates who held Ahold accountable and made this happen. Now it's time for Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, and Aldi to follow suit.