Representative image of cage systems. Farm Transparency Project.
|
7
States with
cage-free laws |
75M+
Consumers
protected |
23
Retailers
evaluated |
130M+
Hens in the U.S.
now cage-free |
Cage-free eggs are the law in seven U.S. states. Nearly every major retailer pledged to complete this transition a decade ago. This report reveals who has honored those commitments and who hasn't.
Seven states have active cage-free egg sales laws. Arizona approved regulations in 2022 but implementation has been delayed to January 1, 2032.
A handful of retailers, including Whole Foods, Amazon, Sprouts, CVS, and Walgreens, have completed the transition to 100% cage-free sourcing across their entire U.S. operations. They have proven it is achievable at scale. Ahold Delhaize has now published a fully accountable 100% cage-free roadmap with two-year milestones, annual public reporting, and in-store signage across 2,000+ locations, setting a new industry benchmark for what a credible commitment looks like.
Costco, one of the most committed retailers in the industry, reached 97.1% cage-free in FY24 before a documented setback from High Pathogenic Avian Influenza pushed its FY25 figure to 84.7%. This reflects a supply disruption, not a change in direction. Costco's sustained commitment and transparency set it apart from true laggards.
Industry giants meanwhile continue to lag, and some have actively retreated. Walmart, the largest retailer in the United States, has reached just 27.7% cage-free nationally — an abysmal figure for 2026 with no published path to completion. ALDI and Albertsons have scrubbed their commitments from public websites entirely. Most tellingly, Kroger has replaced its prior path to 100% with a new ceiling of 70% by 2030, leaving tens of millions of hens in battery cages indefinitely.
California's Proposition 12 passed with 63% of the vote in 2018. Massachusetts approved similar standards by 78%. These are broad public mandates, now backed by law with real penalties.
The issue is not feasibility. Sprouts, Whole Foods, CVS, and Walgreens have all completed the transition nationally. Costco reached 97.1% before being set back by avian flu supply disruptions, and is on a clear trajectory back. The infrastructure exists. The supply is available. What separates the leaders from the laggards is not operational reality; it is corporate will.
Each battery cage confines 5–7 hens in a space smaller than a standard sheet of paper. An estimated 160 million laying hens in the U.S. still spend their lives in cages.
Source: USDA NASS
Representative image of cage systems. Farm Transparency Project.
Conventional battery cages confine hens in spaces so restrictive they cannot spread their wings, walk, or engage in nearly any natural behavior. Hens spend their entire lives in these cages before being slaughtered. The scientific evidence against this system is overwhelming.
Veterinarians, animal welfare scientists, and public health experts have repeatedly documented the harms of cage confinement: severe feather loss, bone weakness from immobility, chronic frustration, psychological distress, and elevated rates of disease. Major veterinary and animal welfare organizations have acknowledged the clear advantages of cage-free systems, which allow hens to move freely, perch, nest, and dust-bathe.
Beyond animal welfare, cage-free sourcing is now a legal requirement in a growing number of jurisdictions. California's Proposition 12, passed by 63% of voters in 2018, prohibits the sale of eggs from caged hens. Massachusetts voters approved similar standards by an even larger margin, 78%, in 2016. Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Nevada, and Michigan have followed with their own laws. Arizona approved cage-free regulations in 2022, with full implementation currently delayed to January 1, 2032.
The European Union banned conventional battery cages in 2012. The U.S. cage-free flock has grown nearly fivefold since 2012, now approaching 50% of all laying hens. While progress varies by region, the direction of the transition is clear and accelerating.
The penalties for non-compliance are real. In California, each non-compliant sale can result in fines up to $1,000 or up to 180 days imprisonment. In Massachusetts, violations carry fines of $1,000 per sale. Beyond statutory penalties, businesses may face unfair competition claims, injunctive relief, and operational disruption if state attorneys general pursue enforcement.
Public opinion overwhelmingly supports cage-free sourcing. Repeated polling shows that large majorities of Americans across political and demographic lines oppose the extreme confinement of hens in cages. When given a choice, consumers prefer cage-free products. When given a vote, they pass laws to mandate them.
The transition to cage-free is not theoretical. It is happening. The only question is whether companies will lead this transition with integrity, or be dragged into compliance, market by market, only when legally forced.
This assessment examines major retail chains with physical store locations in one or more of the seven states with cage-free egg sales laws currently in effect.
The report evaluates 23 major retailers across grocery chains, big-box retailers, pharmacy and convenience stores, and discount retailers. Our assessment is based exclusively on publicly available information: published corporate animal welfare policies and sustainability reports, public statements and press releases, investor disclosures, and responses to stakeholder inquiries.
This assessment evaluates not just legal compliance in cage-free law states, but overall performance and consistency. Companies may be in technical compliance with state laws while maintaining inconsistent standards across their supply chains. This report holds retailers accountable for the commitments they made, not just the minimum legal requirements they must meet.
Where both volume and revenue figures are available, we use volume figures (dozens of eggs) as the more accurate measure — volume reflects actual eggs sourced, while revenue percentages are skewed by the price premium on cage-free products and overstate true sourcing progress. In cases where only a revenue figure is publicly available, we note this. For reference, Kroger's 2024 cage-free figure is 43.3% by volume and 55.9% by revenue.
ICAW conducted outreach to company leadership in the months preceding publication. Some companies responded with updated information; others did not. Companies that did not respond are assessed based on publicly available information alone.
Representative image of cage systems. Farm Transparency Project.
These companies made explicit public commitments to reach 100% cage-free egg sourcing. Instead of honoring those pledges, they withdrew them, delayed by years, or quietly erased them from their websites. This is not a supply chain challenge. It is a choice.
Made a public 100% cage-free commitment by 2025. It is now 2026, and Albertsons has removed its cage-free commitment page from its website entirely. Its own 2025 Recipe for Change Report states that 75% of liquid and shell eggs were cage-free in 2024 — though it is unclear whether this is a volume or revenue figure — and this data does not appear on the company's animal welfare or sustainability pages. Despite repeated outreach to company leadership and the Board of Directors, Albertsons has not responded. The retailer operates heavily in California, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada, all active cage-free law states. Albertsons is further along than Ahold Delhaize was when Ahold made its full commitment. There is no credible excuse for silence.
The retailer committed in 2016 to a 100% cage-free U.S. supply chain by 2025. ALDI's 2024 Sustainability Report formally announced it will not meet this commitment, citing supply constraints and infrastructure challenges. No revised timeline has been published. No accountability mechanism is in place. ALDI operates in states where cage-free sales are legally required, meeting legal minimums while having formally abandoned its broader public commitment.
Kroger did not merely fall short of its cage-free commitment, it changed the goal itself. The company has replaced its prior trajectory toward 100% cage-free with a new target of just 70% by 2030, leaving nearly one-third of the hens in its egg supply in battery cages with no published timeline to eliminate them. At 43.3% cage-free by volume nationally, Kroger is further along than Ahold Delhaize was when Ahold committed to a full 100% roadmap. A path to 70% is not progress. It is a ceiling, and an explicit choice to leave tens of millions of hens in battery cages with no plan to ever free them.
Ahold Delhaize, which operates Stop & Shop, Food Lion, Giant, Hannaford, and Giant Food across more than 2,000 U.S. locations, has published a comprehensive, fully accountable cage-free roadmap. This is now the floor. Every lagging retailer will be measured against it.
After sustained pressure from animal welfare organizations, Ahold committed to 100% cage-free sourcing by 2032, backed by two-year benchmark milestones, annual public progress reporting, and in-store cage-free signage across its entire store network. The milestones are published. The reporting is annual. The signage is in-store. There is no ambiguity about what delivery looks like.
The significance of this commitment is not just what Ahold agreed to. It is what it eliminates as an excuse for every other major retailer still stalling. Ahold operates at comparable or greater scale than Albertsons, Kroger, and ALDI. It sources eggs for thousands of stores across multiple states. If Ahold can publish a credible 100% roadmap with annual milestones and in-store accountability measures, there is no operational or logistical argument that any of these companies cannot do the same.
What Ahold committed to: 100% cage-free by 2032 · Published two-year benchmark milestones · Annual public progress reporting · In-store cage-free signage across 2,000+ locations · Transparent SKU-level sourcing disclosures
This is the standard. Albertsons, Kroger, ALDI, and Walmart now have a direct peer benchmark against which their continued silence and inaction will be measured.
Retailers are grouped into tiers based on publicly available information about cage-free sourcing progress, transparency, and consistency. A company may appear legally compliant in individual states while earning a poor overall rating for its national performance and broken commitments. These are accountability assessments, not legal determinations. Click any company name for more detail.
Representative image of cage systems. Farm Transparency Project.
California, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Colorado, and Michigan require cage-free eggs by law. If you've seen conventional caged eggs sold at any retailer in these states, on store shelves, in refrigerator cases, or in any retail format, we want to know.
Four expectations for every major retailer operating in cage-free law states. These are the minimum standards of transparency, consistency, and accountability that consumers, investors, and regulators should expect.
The cage-free egg transition is not aspirational. It is the law in seven states representing over one-quarter of the U.S. population. It is a commitment that nearly every major retailer in the United States made publicly, a decade ago.
This year's SAWCA marks a meaningful shift. Ahold Delhaize's commitment to a 100% cage-free roadmap with two-year SKU milestones, annual reporting, and in-store signage across 2,000+ locations has reset the baseline for what accountability looks like. The work is not yet done, and ICAW will track delivery against each published milestone. But the commitment eliminates the last credible operational excuse for every retailer still stalling.
The contrast is stark. Kroger, at 43.3% cage-free by volume and further along than Ahold was at the moment of Ahold's commitment, has chosen to impose a 70% ceiling on itself with no path to eliminating the remaining battery cage eggs. Albertsons has scrubbed its commitment page entirely. ALDI has walked away from its 2025 pledge with no replacement. These companies are not failing because the transition is impossible. They are failing because they have chosen not to finish it.
We will continue to track progress and publish findings. Companies that act will be recognized. Companies that don't will be held accountable.
The State Animal Welfare Compliance Assessment (SAWCA) is published by the International Council for Animal Welfare (ICAW). This 2026 report evaluates 23 major U.S. retailers operating in states with active cage-free egg laws.
Our assessment is based entirely on publicly available information: corporate animal welfare policies, sustainability reports, public statements, investor disclosures, and direct stakeholder outreach. Where information is incomplete or contradictory, we note it explicitly. This report does not make legal determinations; it holds retailers accountable for the commitments they made.
ICAW conducted extensive outreach to company leadership and board members in the months preceding publication to ensure the accuracy of this assessment.