U.S. Egg Market Cracks After McDonald’s Pledges Cage-Free McMuffins
- About a third of the chain’s U.S. eggs now from cage-free hens
- Companies’ embrace of the product has pushed down U.S. prices
A McDonald's Corp. Egg McMuffin
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
McDonald’s Corp.’s mission to use only cage-free eggs is rippling across the market.
The world’s largest restaurant company is about a third of the way to meeting its goal of being entirely cage-free in the U.S. by 2025 -- a target it shares with a broad array of retailers and food producers. The expected surge in demand has sparked barn upgrades across the country over the last several years, with producers building facilities that give hens a bit more space. This increase in supply is reducing cage-free eggs’ market premium over regular eggs.