MCD McDonalds Corp

By Dieter Holger

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) said Thursday that it now receives a third of its eggs in the U.S. from chickens that aren't confined in cages as it aims to achieve a 100% cage-free eggs by 2025.

The shift means some 726 million of the 2.2 billion eggs that go to the fast-food chain's U.S. restaurants in 2019 will be cage-free, McDonald's said.

As of March, around 16% of egg-laying hens in the U.S. were cage-free, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

Since September 2015, McDonald's has worked with suppliers, including Cargill Inc. and Forsman Farms, to transition to cage-free eggs as consumers become increasingly concerned about the treatment of animals in industrial farming. Walmart Inc. (WMT), Kroger Co. (KR) and Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) have also committed to sourcing cage-free eggs.

"Consumer preferences are changing--people want to feel good about how their food is sourced," Norm Stocker, vice-president of food service and poultry at Cargill, said.

Approaches to cage-free farming vary from supplier to supplier, McDonald's said. Forsman Farms--which now produces 100% cage-free eggs for McDonald's--built new barns for its chickens with mobile technology to manage lighting and temperature, while some farms have installed heated floors.

"Many of our other customers will be making the change, as well," Peter Forsman, owner of Forsman Farms, said.

Cage-free chickens aren't necessarily defined as free range by the USDA. Producers must demonstrate to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service that poultry has been allowed access to the outside before it can be labeled as free range.

Write to Dieter Holger at dieter.holger@dowjones.com; @dieterholger

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 11, 2019 07:42 ET (11:42 GMT)

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