BUENOS AIRES—In a meeting held between Havanna and officials at Humane Society International, one of the world’s leading animal protection organizations, the company announced that it is joining the organization’s global cage-free egg initiative, committing to switch to a 100 percent cage-free egg supply chain. This new commitment applies to Havanna’s global production and supply chain for all its products that contain eggs (shell, liquid and powder).

Havanna’s decision to go cage-free was made jointly with HSI, and followed several meetings in which both institutions evaluated and identified new egg producers that could meet this higher welfare standard, and set timelines for this gradual transition to a 100 percent cage-free egg supply chain.

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Havanna is the leading Argentinean manufacturer of “alfajores”, chocolates and other products, and also operates coffee shops in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, the United States, Spain, Paraguay and Venezuala. The company will work hand in hand with HSI and its egg suppliers to complete the transition to cage-free eggs no later than 2025, and will publish annual progress reports during this transition period.

Alan Aurich, CEO of Havanna, said: “We believe that evolution is essential in order to be in tune with global trends and new challenges. Animal welfare is a priority CSR issue at the global level, and Havanna understands that the time has come for us to also improve our production processes in this regard. We know that our customers are aware that we work with high quality standards. It fills us with pride to be the first Argentinean company to look for production options using cage-free eggs”.

Ignacia Uribe, corporate policy manager for HSI Farm Animals in Argentina, said: “We congratulate Havanna for becoming the first Argentinean company to join the global cage-free egg movement. By adopting a cage-free policy, Havanna is demonstrating its commitment to corporate social responsibility and at the same time responding to the demands of its customers for higher animal welfare products. We hope Havanna’s new policy will be an example for other Argentinean companies”.

In Argentina, the majority of egg-laying hens are confined in wire battery cages so small they cannot even stretch their wings. Each battery cage confines five to 10 egg-laying hens and each animal has less space than a letter-sized piece of paper on which to spend her whole life. Hens confined in battery cages are unable to express important natural behaviors, including nesting, dustbathing and perching. Cage-free systems generally offer hens higher levels of animal welfare and allow hens to carry out these vital natural behaviors that are denied in caged systems.

Media Contacts: For HSI: MariaJose.Pandullo@hkstrategies.com. For Havanna: Orlando Molaro, orlando@mprcomunicacion.com