Australian businesses crack down on cruelty
Fri 21 October 2011
Kate Syson, Bachelor of Journalism
Major Australian supermarket Woolworths has discontinued caged eggs in their select brand and clearly segregated the farming types to benefit consumers.
Woolworths decreased the amount of cage egg brands stocked on their shelves from 20 down to 11.
Woolworths Media Relations Manager Benedict Brook said the shift occurred because of consumer preference and their written concerns for animal safety.
“Free range eg
gs are more expensive [than caged eggs] and customers are still deciding to purchase them,” Mr Brook said.
“That is a pretty strong message to us that they are taking more into consideration than just the price.”
Mr Brook knew if Woolworths could get a large supply of free-range eggs, increasing numbers of people would buy them and the price would start to come down.
“As the prices start coming down, people influenced by the price barrier would be able to purchase free range eggs,” Mr Brook said.
Since the shift in 2010, Mr Brook said that Woolworths had seen a massive increase in free-range sales.
“I think, undoubtedly, people shopping at their regular supermarkets see a better range of free range eggs, they are more accessible to them and they are more likely to try it out,” Mr Brook said.
“People are so much more aware [now], there is so much information and they can be confident that they know what they are buying and how it is produced.”
No Caged Eggs outlined the treatment and conditions that over 10 million battery hens in Australia endure each day.
Each cage contains three to seven hens, sharing a floor space less than the size of an A4 piece of paper.
Switzerland and Sweden no longer have battery farms operating, and the European Union will completely phase out its cages by the end of 2012.
The Poultry Hub detailed a meeting in 2000 that discussed the abolishment of battery cages in Australia, which found that the only states opting for a total ban were Tasmania, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
New South Wales and Victoria opposed it for economical reasons, and the decision not to ban battery hens was made.
The Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) outlined the estimated economic impact that a total ban of caged eggs would have.
The retail price of barn eggs [cruelty free] would be about 13 per cent higher than cage egg prices in the first year, decreasing each year after that until they level off at about 6 per cent 10 years later.
DAFF estimated the total economic cost of a ban (consumer plus farm adjustment cost) was $A73 million per year discounting at an annual rate of 7 per cent.
Australia’s imports and exports of egg and egg products represented an insignificant proportion of the domestic market, but could change if a ban on caged eggs was introduced.
There was no attempt made to determine the net benefits that could potentially arise from animal welfare considerations.
The RSPCA Queensland media and community relations manager Michael Beatty believed that the best way to go forward was the carrot and stick approach.
This approach referred to a policy offering a combination of rewards and punishments to induce behaviour in the battery hen industry itself.
“Over the years we have seen a development,” Mr Beatty said.
“Coles is on board [favouring free range/barn laid eggs], so is Woolworths and McDonald’s and there are a lot of free range products available that people are definitely buying.”
Mr Beatty said that it was unlikely that the Government would make a total ban like other countries have, and that the battery hen industry in Australia was too powerful.
“The only way to make a change is to make the demand for free-range eggs so high that the producers must head down the path of free range or barn laid practices,” Mr Beatty said.
“You must scrutinise the labels and make sure you know what you are buying.”
Mr Beatty said that some labels have happy chickens out in a field, then you look at the fine print and they are caged eggs.
“If enough people convert to free range/barn laid, the demand will be so high that a national shift will be inevitable,” Mr Beatty said.
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