Free range outsell battery eggs for the first time
More shoppers than ever are prepared to 'shell out' for free range eggs, following Jamie Oliver's expose on battery farming, it emerged last week. For the first time in supermarket history, free range outsold battery, with 51% of sales.
In 'Jamie's Fowl Dinners', which aired in January, Jamie Oliver highlighted some of the cruel practices of intensive chicken farming, and captured the nation's hearts by putting live, fluffy chicks on the dinner table - only to slaughter the male ones mimicking what goes on in egg farms every day. This was reflected in February's eggs sales, from which the figures were taken.
A spokesman for the British Egg Information Service said: "There was a huge amount of growth in free-range eggs in January which coincided with a couple of TV programmes. That growth has continued in February and beyond. There has been an explosion in the first three months of the year."
Supermarkets across the board have upped their stocks of free range shell eggs, while two (Waitrose and Marks & Spencer) only sell free range. Recognising the demand, a number of new free range labels have also appeared in recent weeks, including Noble Foods' Ecowise eggs, available from the Co-op at a cost of £1.49 for 6.
