Panera Bread said today that all of its restaurants will only use eggs laid by cage-free hens by 2020.
The St. Louis-based company said that it is already 21 percent of the way there, so 70 million shell eggs, hard boiled and liquid eggs prepared at Panera locations were from cage-free hens in 2015. Eggs already come from hens fed only a vegetarian diet and no antibiotics.
“We are honored to have been recognized as one of the two best performing national restaurant companies in an independent report on antibiotics usage and transparency in September,” Panera founder and CEO Ron Shaich said in a statement. “While there is more work to be done, we are within reach of a menu without antibiotics and unnecessary confinement. We are committed to transparency – which means sharing where we are and where we plan to go. We encourage other companies to join us by transparently sharing their progress.”
As CBS News notes, Panera is hardly the first restaurant chain to make animal welfare a priority. McDonald’s said in September that it will also switch to cage-free eggs over the next 10 years. Subway, Starbucks and Chipotle have made similar decisions.
There has also been a campaign lead by the Humane Society to get Costco to do the same. In July, Brad Pitt even wrote an op-ed for the New York Times, criticizing the retailer for using eggs from caged hens. Costco did say it does plan to switch to cage-free hens, but hasn’t said when.
Josh Balk of the Humane Society praised Panera’s decision. “We’re thankful for Panera Bread’s leadership on animal welfare,” Balk said in a statement released by Panera. “Whether it’s switching to 100% cagefree eggs by 2020, or the company’s commitment to offer more delicious plant-based meals, Panera is demonstrating that social responsibility goes hand-in-hand with being a successful national restaurant brand.”