CAFES, restaurants and other food service businesses will play a key role in finally freeing Australia’s 11 million battery-caged hens, and smart companies are already leading the way.
That’s the message from Grill’d Healthy Burgers and the RSPCA, who have today announced their partnership to raise awareness about the suffering of hens confined to battery cages.
The RSPCA has long campaigned for an end to the suffering caused by the continued use of battery cages in egg production, while leading Australian brand Grill’d has proudly used cage-free eggs on their menu since the first store opened more than 12 years ago.
“Right now, nearly three quarters of Australia’s hens have a miserable existence confined to battery cages, and while consumers are buying more cage-free in the supermarket, the vast majority of eggs used in food services are still coming from hens in cages,” RSPCA Australia CEO Heather Neil said.
“For the first time in more than 15 years we have an opportunity to change this, and we’re absolutely delighted to have Grill’d supporting our campaign to make sure Australians know about it,” Ms Neil said.
“At Grill’d we have been serving free range eggs since opening our doors in 2004. We are proud and passionate to get behind the RSPCA campaign to end battery caged farming for hens,” Simon Crowe, Grill’d Founder and Managing Director, said.
“This gives us the opportunity to help spread the word about an important cause and support the movement to be good eggs,” Mr Crowe said.
Australia’s national poultry standards are currently under review, and these will govern the way all poultry species in Australia are managed for the next decade or so.
A draft of the standards is due to be released for public consultation in September 2017, and the RSPCA has previously voiced its concerns that no meaningful improvements for hens in battery cages will be made.
To find out more about the campaign partnership visit www.grilld.com.au/endcageeggs
To follow this issue, sign up to the RSPCA’s e-news at www.rspca.org.au
