Tell Kroger to Spare Hens From Extreme Cruelty
- by: The Humane League
- recipient: The Kroger Co. CEO, Greg Foran
In 2016, Kroger made a clear promise: go 100% cage-free by 2025 and spare hens from extreme cruelty. But instead of keeping that commitment, Kroger backtracked, slashing its goal and pushing out the deadline.
This is more than just a missed deadline. This is a broken promise and a callous betrayal of millions of hens still trapped in Kroger's supply chain.
Each year, an estimated 15 million hens lay eggs for Kroger's 2,700+ stores. They're crammed into wire battery cages so small they can't even spread their wings. These sensitive, curious animals spend almost their entire lives—day after day, month after month—with less floor space than a single sheet of paper. They eat, sleep, and lay eggs in the same filthy cage where they defecate, sometimes even surrounded by the decomposing bodies of dead cagemates. It's a living nightmare.
Kroger is the third-largest supermarket chain in America. It earned nearly $148 billion in 2025. Yet the company refuses to honor its original commitment to stop profiting off extreme cruelty to animals. Meanwhile, Kroger's competitors like Target and Food Lion have proven it's not only possible—it's the right thing to do.
Kroger owes its customers honesty, and it owes these animals basic dignity. A watered-down goal of 70% cage-free by 2030 from now is not good enough, not when Kroger already promised to be 100% cage-free by 2025. It had almost a decade to change its business practices, and it failed to do so.
Dear Greg Foran,
In 2016, Kroger promised to eliminate battery cages from its egg supply chain by 2025 and spare hens from extreme cruelty. But instead of fulfilling that commitment, you backtracked in 2022 and slashed your goal to just 70% cage-free by 2030.
As concerned customers and citizens, we are outraged by this callous betrayal of our trust. You actively chose to reduce your commitment to animal welfare and break your promise to customers who trusted you to do the right thing.
The millions of hens trapped in your supply chain deserve better. These sensitive, curious animals spend almost their entire lives crammed into wire battery cages so small they can't even spread their wings—with less floor space than a single sheet of paper. Battery cages are condemned by animal welfare experts worldwide and are already banned in multiple states because of the extreme suffering they cause. Yet Kroger—a company that earned nearly $148 billion in 2025—refuses to honor its original commitment to stop profiting off this extreme cruelty.
Your competitors like Target and Food Lion have proven that change is achievable. Your customers expect honesty and integrity. And these animals deserve basic compassion.
Kroger had almost a decade to change its business practices, and it dragged its feet. We are calling on you to immediately restore Kroger's original commitment and transition to 100% cage-free eggs across all 2,700+ stores.
Kroger must keep its word. We demand that you honor your 2016 promise and go 100% cage-free.
The time to act is now.
Thank you,
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