• by Tanya Gazdik , December 23, 2022

Kroger is now selling what it claims to be the world’s first carbon-neutral, cage-free eggs.

The grocery store chain announced plans a year ago to partner with Netherlands-based Kipster Farms to bring the new product to U.S. market. The company said the eggs were expected to be available in select stores in late 2022, and indeed, they were available for purchase in Michigan this week for $5.99 a dozen. 

Sold under the Simple Truth store organic brand, the educational packaging includes a QR code so consumers can see the chickens' living conditions.

A 90-second video explains how the chickens are being given “a better quality of life, while striving for the least environmental impact.”

MPS Egg Farms, a long-standing Kroger partner based in North Manchester, Indiana, constructed a production facility using the proprietary Kipster system.

The barn is powered by rooftop solar panels and aims to offer “the highest standards of animal welfare, providing a cage-free, natural-like wooded environment with plenty of variety, daylight and outdoor scurrying space.”

The chickens' feed is made from surplus food from bakeries and other food producers, reducing climate impacts vs. standard feed.

The partnership advances Kroger's Environmental, Social and Governance strategy – “Thriving Together” – which articulates the company's commitment to driving positive changes for people, the planet and natural systems. It also reflects the latest progress on the company's phased transition to cage-free eggs. 

The majority of eggs sold in the United States come from egg-laying hens raised in battery cages. 

“On average, each caged laying hen is afforded only 67 square inches of cage space -- less space than a single sheet of letter-sized paper on which to live her entire life,” according to Certified Humane.