Cage Free Tracker
CAGE FREE TRACKER
LATIN AMERICA
2021 REPORT
2020: A year of challenges
2020 was a year full of challenges. The whole world faced a pandemic which still represents a public health risk in every continent and left most vulnerable populations in an even more fragile situation. But our work for animals didn’t stop.
While we all deal with this pandemic, billions of animals in the world continue to be exploited for food production. There are more than 500 million hens in the Latin American egg industry, and more than 90% of them spend almost their whole lives in battery cages.
The following report brings together the results of the information gathering process on the efforts and progress of the food and hotel companies present in Latin America, regarding the commitments to stop using eggs from the cage system.
Latin American context
Public policy advances
Even during these tough times, we have seen our region take steps on this issue. Bills have been put forward on egg labeling in Colombia and Argentina, there has been a cage-free proposal in Chile, and current regulation in the metropolitan area of Quito and Loja City, both in Ecuador, now prohibits the use of battery cages in egg production.
New corporate commitments
We are pleased to announce that Sinergia Animal and other NGOs achieved eight cage-free commitments in 2020: two in Colombia (Sándwich Qbano and Grupo IGA), two in Chile (Hotel Explora and Hotel Altiplánico), two in Argentina (Tostado Café Club and Harper Juice Bar) and three for the whole region of Latin America (Levapan, Dunkin Donuts, and Papa John’s), in addition to two global commitments accomplished in joint campaigns with the Open Wing Alliance, Minor Hotels, and Restaurant Brands International.
Sinergia Animal’s expansion
We have decided to expand our corporate outreach efforts to Perú and Ecuador. At the beginning of 2021 we got our first positive result in Ecuador, with the expansion of Crepes and Waffles cage-free policy to the country.
TRACKING PROGRAM RESULTS
Participation level
260
companies with policies in Latin American countries
61,6%
of contacted companies replied to our communications
67
in Argentina, Chile or Colombia
43,3%
reported their progress
60
contacted companies
Participation level per country
Argentinian companies
-
Reported (44.4%): Freddo, Tostado Café Club, Harper Juice Bar, Le Pain Quotidien Argentina
-
Didn’t report (33.3%): Green Eat, Tea Connection, Café Martinez
-
Didn’t reply (22.2%): Havanna, Carrefour Argentina
Chilean companies
-
Reported (50%): Hotel Explora, Hotel Altiplánico, Unifood, Clementina
-
Didn’t report (25%): G&N Brands, Carl’s Jr. Chile
-
Didn’t reply (25%): Melting Cook, Lo Saldes
Colombian companies
-
Reported (57.8%): Pan pa ya, Servihoteles, Alimentos Colomer, Crepes and Waffles, SandwichQbano, Oma, Presto, Jenos Pizza, Hoteles Estelar, Juan Valdéz, Vapiano Colombia
-
Didn’t report (15.7%): Colombina, Mikaela, International Meal Company
-
Didn’t reply (26.3%) : Takami, Café Santino, Levapan, Carnival Corporation, Bioparque
Multinational companies
-
Reported (29.1%): Unilever, Marriott, Grupo Bimbo, Intercontinental, General Mills, Subway, Kraft Heinz
-
Didn’t report 12.5%): Nestlé, Sodexo, Kellogg's
-
Didn’t reply (58.3%): Starbucks, Danone, Hyatt, Hilton, Royal Caribbean, Mondelez International, Pepsico, Mcdonalds, Alsea, Aramark, Norwegian Cruise Line, Compass Group, Accor, Best Western
Cage-free fresh egg use percentage according to the reporting companies
Other key data: The report in numbers
8
(31%) companies reported a cage-free transition equal to or better than 80% for their fresh eggs
4
(15%) companies reported progress on a regional level for their processed egg supply
6
(23%) companies declared progress on a regional level for sourced products which contain egg
Identifying challenges
Obstacles | N° | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Consumer interest | 3 | 12% |
Logistics | 4 | 15% |
Pandemic | 5 | 19% |
Availability | 9 | 35% |
Price | 11 | 42% |
Other key points
Companies with a public and permanent announcement:
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19 yes
(73%)
7 no
(27%)
Companies who have identified cage-free egg providers:
21 yes (81%)
5 no
(19%)
Companies with
awareness plans:
21 yes (81%)
5 no
(19%)
Next steps
Sinergia Animal will continue working on getting companies to adopt and implement corporate cage-free policies in Latin American and Southeast Asia. We will work to include Ecuadorian and Peruvian companies during the next edition of the Cage-Free Tracker report, as our corporate engagement team has already contacted some companies in those countries.
