December 1, 2010

Australian buyers flock to free-range eggs

Australian consumers are crying foul over caged eggs, with a record number of shoppers turning to free-range varieties.

Retail sales of free-range eggs have more than doubled since 2000, according to the Australian Egg Association, as animal activist campaigns and price decreases affect buyer consciousness.

Free-range eggs now take up 28% of the market as compared to 10% a decade ago, according to the association's Managing Director, James Kellaway.

"The free range egg sale has about 17% growth annually," Kellaway said.

Animal activist campaigns and price discounts in free-range options have led to the record surge in cage-free sales, Kellaway said.

Free range chickens are kept in a shed or pen house and are allowed outdoors during daylight hours while battery hens spend their entire life in cramped cages.

According to welfare advocate group, Animals Australia, caged hens do not get to feel sun and cannot carry out important natural behaviours such as dust bathing to keep their feathers clean and free from parasites, or lay eggs in secluded nests.

"Hens can also suffer severe 'defeathering' from rubbing painfully against their wire enclosures. Their feet can become entangled in the wire that they are forced to stand unnaturally for 24 hours a day while weaker birds may die unnoticed in their cages and get trampled by cagemates," Animals Australia said.

Studies have shown that one in six hens have broken bones inside battery cages.

Meanwhile, the Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA) said the organic industry is growing faster than any other, with a 75% growth in retail sales over the past two years.

Organic eggs production represents less than 1% of the market.

BFA's General Manager, Holly Vyner, said that buying certified organic food, including eggs, is a guarantee that animals are protected by some of the most rigorous animal protection regulations.