Empire’s empty promise leaves hens caged and consumers misled.
TORONTO — Nearly a decade ago, Empire Company Limited — the Nova Scotia-based parent company of some of Canada’s biggest grocery brands, including Sobeys — promised to go 100% cage-free by the end of 2025. Today, that promise lies broken. Empire retracted its original deadline, did not provide an updated commitment and has failed the Canadian public who trusted the company to do the right thing.
Empire is Canada’s second-largest retail conglomerate, owning major grocery brands Sobeys, Safeway, Farm Boy, Longo’s, FreshCo, Foodland, IGA, Thrifty Foods and others. These brands span the country — yet not one has provided a clear, time-bound plan for eliminating cages from its egg supply chain. While Empire expands its profits and retail footprint, millions of hens remain confined in cruel, outdated cages.
In 2016, Sobeys pledged to go cage-free. In 2021, the policy’s fulfillment deadline was boldly dropped, and since then, neither Sobeys nor Empire has shared a clear roadmap, despite Empire’s soaring earnings — nearly $725 million in 2024 alone.
“As Empire expands its grocery empire, it continues to neglect its promise to transition to 100% cage-free eggs by 2025,” said Rhi Henkelman, campaign specialist at Mercy For Animals. “Canadian consumers who trusted Empire and Sobeys to meet this crucial deadline deserve transparency and accountability. Mercy For Animals calls on Empire to release a clear, time-bound roadmap for fulfilling its commitment and eliminating cages from its supply chain.”
Companies like Starbucks, McDonald’s and Boston Pizza have already made good on their cage-free commitments. Empire, with its considerable reach and resources, is simply choosing not to.
Why it matters:
- Nearly 80% of Canadian respondents in a recent survey said that grocery stores should ban cage-sourced eggs, and over 60% said they were willing to pay more for cage-free eggs.
- Cage-free systems dramatically reduce suffering — by over 7,000 hours per bird.
- In conventional “battery” cages, hens are unable to perch or nest, and they are packed so tightly together that they can’t fully stretch their wings.
- As Empire is one of Canada’s largest grocery retailers, the company’s cage-free transition would boost national demand and drive industry-wide progress toward a cage-free future.
Mercy For Animals is calling on Empire to immediately publish a time-bound roadmap for going 100% cage-free across its banners, align its business with Canadian values and respond to growing public pressure. Consumers are urged to join the movement at EmpireOfGreed.ca.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Jessica Bohrson at [email protected].
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Mercy For Animals is a leading international nonprofit working to end industrial animal agriculture by constructing a just and sustainable food system. Active in Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, Southeast Asia and the United States, the organization has conducted over 100 investigations of factory farms and slaughterhouses, influenced over 500 corporate policies and helped pass historic legislation to ban cages for farmed animals. Learn more at MercyForAnimals.org.
