Animal rights activists have launched a campaign protesting the sale of eggs laid by battery farm hens at some of the S-Group’s Prisma hypermarkets. The activists have put up signs in some of the group’s stores in Pori, Tampere and Jyväskylä.
The signs attached to shopping cards inform consumers that layers have about as much room in battery farm conditions as the sign itself occupies. S-Group has confirmed the presence of the adverts in some of its stores.
The Rights for Animals NGO is currently gathering support for an online petition that calls on the duopolist to stop selling eggs from chickens kept in cramped battery farms. However Juhis Ranta, head of the animal rights group’s corporate campaigns said that the NGO is not behind the campaign; rather individual protestors have been putting up the advertising in stores.
Waning appetite for eggs from caged hens
Lidl, a challenger in Finland’s grocery industry, said that it gave up selling eggs from caged hens in 2016. Kesko, the other duopoly player in the market, said that it intends to crack the battery farm egg habit by the year 2025, after a transition period.
Sales of battery farm eggs have declined significantly in Finland in recent years, while sales of other types of eggs have increased.
New investments in poultry farming have focused on barn and free range methods, although overall investment levels have been low, according to Finland’s poultry farmers association.