Caged eggs to disappear from Woolworths shelves forever across Australia

Woolworths has decided not to remove caged eggs from its stores for the next two years.

Woolies promised in 2013 to rid its supermarkets of the controversial product within five years, but by 2018 it had backed down by allowing some brands to stay.

The decade-old agreement with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver also included a plan to phase out the sale of chicken meat that did not meet the RSPCA or equivalent standard.

Woolies has committed to phase out all in-store cage eggs by 2025

The move was welcomed by animal activists at the time, but by 2018 the stores had ditched only their own house brand of caged eggs while selling other brands.

Woolworths brand eggs have been cage-free since 2015.

But now it’s committed to phasing out all caged eggs in stores by 2025.

“The transition to cage-free is on track, with about half of our stores already offering a completely cage-free range of eggs,” said a spokesperson.

Some stores plan to phase them out completely, while others are experiencing delays due to supplier requests.

“We understand that such a change takes time and so we have been working with our suppliers to ensure they have sufficient time to adapt their production methods,” the spokesperson added.

The original effort to phase out caged eggs in 2013 was welcomed by animal activists

The company said it doesn’t expect the move to cause egg shortage issues, which has boosted the popularity of free-range products.

Some of Woolworth’s caged eggs include Just 4 you and Pace Farm brands.

Shoppers on social media praised the retailer for the move, saying it couldn’t have come soon enough.

“A good first step, although then they need to reassess what free range really means,” wrote one commenter.