TORONTO—A new Animal Justice campaign is calling on Sobeys President and CEO Michael Medline to get the grocery giant back on track to deliver on its decade-old cage-free egg promise, a commitment that remains stalled with no published plan or meaningful progress.
The #Hero4Hens campaign urges Mr. Medline, depicted in campaign visuals as a muscled superhero busting open a hen cage with his fist, to take action before his planned retirement in 2026, and leave behind a legacy of compassion for millions of Canadian hens.
Sobeys first adopted its cage-free policy nearly ten years ago, pledging to transition to 100% cage-free eggs by 2025. However, in 2021, the company said it needed more than four more years to hit that target.
While Mr. Medline has since approved updated cage-free policy statements, most recently in July 2024, the company has made no meaningful progress and published no plans. Most eggs sold at Sobeys still come from hens confined in small, crowded wire cages, which are being phased out globally.
Polling shows 80 per cent of Canadians support ending cage use. But without big players like Sobeys leading the way, Canada’s transition to cage-free housing has remained stagnant while progress has moved steadily in other countries, including the U.S., which recently hit 45% cage-free countrywide.
Visitors to https://www.hero4hens.ca/ are invited to add their name to a petition asking Mr. Medine to publish a clear plan and timeline to make cages history.
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