SÃO PAULO—Cencosud, the fourth largest supermarket chain in Brazil, has announced it will sell exclusively cage-free eggs at its over 200 stores throughout eight states in the country. Cenconsud operates under different brands—GBarbosa, Bretas, Prezunic, Perini and Mercantil Rodrigues—and all of them are covered by the policy, which will be fully implemented by 2025 for their own brand eggs, and by 2028 for all eggs. The company also operates in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru, and has an office in China.

This commitment comes after many years of working with Humane Society International and other animal protection organizations. HSI will continue to work with the company in Brazil during the implementation of this policy, and in the countries where they operate, to help them adopt a 100% global cage-free egg commitment.

Maria Fernanda Martin, corporate policy and program manager for HSI Farm Animals in Brazil, said: “We applaud Cencosud for adopting a full 100% cage-free egg commitment, and we look forward to continuing to work with the company and its egg suppliers on the implementation of this policy. This move will relieve thousands of egg-laying hens from a life of extreme confinement, and sends a clear message to the egg industry that the future of egg production is cage-free.”

Egg-laying hens in Brazil are typically confined for their whole lives in wire cages so small that they cannot even fully stretch their wings. Cage-free production systems typically offer hens higher levels of welfare, allowing the birds to express more of their natural behavior, including ground scratching and pecking, laying their eggs in nests, perching and fully spreading their wings. HSI works together with the food industry in Brazil and worldwide to help ensure a successful transition to these higher animal welfare production systems, through farm tours, technical workshops on cage-free systems and the exchange of best practices.

Cencosud joins the other three largest supermarket companies in Brazil that have fully committed to selling exclusively cage-free eggs in the country: Carrefour, Walmart (Grupo Big) and GPA. From one end of the supply chain to the other, companies in Brazil and in the region are committing to cage-free.

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Media contact: Maria Fernanda Martin: mfmartin@hsi.org; +55 (11) 9 5770 9922