Free range eggs by wikimediacommons

Towards the middle of last year it emerged that Woolworth's, who appeared to be committed to free range eggs in its stores, was using battery farmed eggs in many of its products.

Activist! ran a campaign for Woolworths customers to spell out to their favourite retailer, just what they felt about having the feathers pulled over their eyes.

Activist have now provided a feedback page so we can ensure Woolworth's live up to their commitment.

Meeting and commitment
At a meeting held on the 26th of October last year, Julien Novak Head of Woolworth Foods, was handed a petition and he apologised for “unintentionally” misleading customers with in-store signage, and he said that switching to using only free-range eggs in all Woolworth's products was something they’d wanted to do for many years, but that the time was now perfect for making this happen.

Novak said that Woolworth's research however, has shown that customers in South Africa still put price ahead of ethics. Novak said that in spite of this, he still feels that switching to using free-range eggs in products is the right thing to do, and commended those customers who did speak out during the recent campaign, saying that this has successfully pushed the issue to the top of the Woolworth's agenda.
Novak then committed 100% to making the switch to using ONLY free range eggs in ALL Woolworth's products, as a matter of top priority. This has yet to happen, and campaigners are pushing for answers.

Originally, Novak claimed that contrary to what they’d thought, there are in fact enough free-range eggs available in South Africa to meet the demand of all 700 Woolworth's products made with eggs. He said that by washing out and converting one of the liquid egg factories that they use in Gauteng, the first 60 products could appear on Woolworth's shelves within 6 months i.e by April 2010.

He said that a second free-range liquid egg factory would be built from scratch at Eikenhoff Poultry Farm in Cape Town as a matter of top priority, which would facilitate the roll out of the remaining 640 products. Novak stated that they wouldn’t be making any public announcement till the first free-range egg products start hitting the shelves in April 2010.

Houston, we have a problem...
In November however, Woolworth's communicated that logistics were more complex than they’d realized, and that they’d miscalculated on the number of eggs needed, and also miscalculated on the number of liquid egg factories needed. They then said that they needed more time to make the change. They said they’d also reconsidered the rate of the roll out [of products using free range eggs], as they wish to monitor public reaction to the price increase – due to the fact that the free range eggs are more expensive. This is also contrary to a statement by Woolworth's CEO Simon Susman, who in 2007, announced Woolworth's, “Good Business Journey” which was committed to an increase in organic and free-range food, that would involve investment, but that Woolworth's "will not pass the cost of this on [to the customer]," and that they fully expect costs to be recovered as they see the results of their actions.

In November Woolworth's released the following statement about the change to free range eggs: “Woolworth's is going to do it. All its products containing egg will convert to free range as fast as practically possible. The first ranges made with free range egg will appear on the counters within a year . More info on the roll-out will follow once negotiations with suppliers are complete and we have more understanding of how long it will take for factories to be built etc.”

When?
As you can see Woolworth's have committed to making the change, but are vague as to when this will happen. It could be November this year, or later, before consumers could buy products made with free range eggs. Since this statement in November, there has been no further communication from Woolworth's, despite repeated requests for more information.

If you want to help put pressure on Woolworth's to issue a clear directive by which customers can gauge progress towards the fulfillment of their commitment to switch to using only free-range eggs in all Woolworth's products.

Restored trust
If Woolworth's does deliver on its promise – it would be the first supermarket in South Africa to be completely free of mass produced battery eggs.

The way in which Woolworth's commits to the provision of these 700 products, their transparency with customers, and delivery on their promise, will be a crucial test of the much larger question which this issue has raised - around that of Woolworth's integrity. During the course of this free-range egg campaign, many customers said they felt ‘mislead’, ‘let down’ and ‘betrayed’ by the discovery that Woolworth's continues to use battery eggs in their products, while displaying in-store sign-age claiming to sell only free range eggs, because “we think our hens enjoy having space to behave like hens should.”

So by the end of the year start looking out for the inclusion of “free range eggs” in pancakes, pasta, salads quiches etcetera. If Woolworth's is committed to free range eggs, then it must live up to its promises, and not use them as a marketing gimmick.

An Update to this story:

19th APRIL, 2010 – FREE RANGE EGG UPDATE FROM WOOLWORTHS

In an e-mail to Wendy Hardie on 19th April, 2010, Julian Novak apologised for the delay in the roll out of products made with free range egg, and went on to say : “We are delighted to be able to communicate to you that the first 100 lines “made with free range eggs” will appear on our counters over the next 4 months, with 70 appearing in the next ten weeks.”

He said that they expect to launch the second wave of free range egg products by the end of the year : “We will be able to confirm this list and the timing by end June.”

To meet the needs of the 600 remaining Woolworths products still made with battery egg, he said that planning is underway to build a new liquid egg factory. “We expect new production capacity will become available in approximately 2 year’s time….As soon as the factory becomes operational, we will expedite the changeover.”

TIMETABLE :

June 2010 – by the end of June, the first 70 products made with free range eggs will appear on Woolworths shelves.

June 2010 – by the end of June - Woolworths will also confirm the list and timing for the release of the second wave of products made with free range eggs. No details were given of how many these would be.

August 2010 – by August 19th, customers can look forward to there being 100 products on the shelves, made with free range egg.

April 2012 – they hope the new factory will be operational by April 2012, and will then “expediate” the conversion of the remaining 600 Woolworths products made with battery egg.