Introduction
Kroger, the largest grocery chain in the United States, has recently announced a new initiative that will allow customers to check in on the hens who laid their eggs. This new program is part of Kroger’s commitment to animal welfare and transparency in the food industry. Through this program, customers will be able to trace the eggs they purchase back to the farm where the hens were raised. This will give customers peace of mind that the eggs they are buying are coming from humanely raised hens. Additionally, customers will be able to learn more about the farm and the hens that laid their eggs. This is a great step forward for animal welfare and transparency in the food industry.
Kroger’s New Eggs Will Let You Check In on the Hens Who Laid Them
Kroger, the nation’s largest grocery chain, is introducing a new line of eggs that will let customers check in on the hens who laid them. The eggs, called Kroger Traceable Eggs, will be available in select stores in the Midwest and will feature a QR code on the carton that customers can scan to learn more about the hens and their living conditions.
The eggs are produced by Ohio-based egg producer Country Hen, which is committed to providing humane living conditions for its hens. The QR code will provide customers with information about the hens, including their breed, age, and living conditions. Customers will also be able to view photos of the hens and learn more about the farm where they were raised.
Kroger’s Traceable Eggs are part of the company’s commitment to animal welfare and sustainability. The eggs are produced without the use of antibiotics, hormones, or animal by-products, and the hens are provided with ample space to roam and forage. The eggs are also certified by the American Humane Association, which ensures that the hens are treated humanely.
Kroger’s Traceable Eggs are a great way for customers to learn more about the hens who laid their eggs and to ensure that they are buying eggs that were produced in a humane and sustainable way. The eggs are available in select stores in the Midwest and are sure to be a hit with customers who care about animal welfare and sustainability.
In the race to market a more perfect egg, Kroger just rolled into the lead. The Cincinnati-based supermarket chain is now selling what it calls America’s first carbon-neutral eggs.
By now, you’re probably familiar with cage-free eggs, free-range eggs, and pasture-raised eggs. These new carbon-neutral eggs are a step beyond even those varieties, in terms of animal welfare, sustainability and progressive food policies in general.
The egg-laying hens in this case conduct their business within a unique, closed-loop production system developed in the Netherlands. Pioneering Dutch company Kipster Farms is partnering with Kroger and its U.S. supplier MPS Eggs Farms on the new carbon-neutral program.
The birds are raised in modern, solar panel-equipped henhouses, which are not only free of cages, but also include skylights and multiple garden areas where “the birds have trees, rocks, climbing structures and other things to play on,” as MPS Egg Farms Vice President Sam Krouse recently explained to Farm Flavor.
MPS built four of these newly styled henhouses in Indiana, after touring similar facilities in Europe.
To reduce their carbon footprint, the hens eat repurposed bakery by-products instead of traditional corn-based feed and their manure is turned into organic fertilizer, according to Krouse.
While this surely improves the quality of life for the chickens, it’s not immediately clear how it impacts the quality of the eggs. For now, the Simple Truth-brand carbon-neutral eggs are only available at select Kroger locations in Ohio and Michigan. The company plans to bring them to more stores in the coming year.
For added transparency, the packaging even includes a QR code linking customers to a live webcam inside the new egg-production facilities. Check it out here.
It’s not quite the intimately detailed dossier on Colin, the locally raised organic chicken from TV’s Portlandia—but it’s close.
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Chris Shott