Campbell’s Shareholders Reject Disclosing Cage-Free Egg Details

Campbell Soup Co. investors on Wednesday voted against a proposal asking the canned foods business to shed more light on its plans to meet its cage-free egg commitment.

The proposal, submitted by the Humane Society of the United States, said that Campbell’s should clarify how it expects to meet its goal of sourcing only cage-free eggs globally by 2025.

The bid questioned the company’s resolve, noting that “13 years after starting to source cage-free eggs, seven years after pledging to reach 100%, and with its 2025 deadline approaching, Campbell’s percentage is still just in the single digits, its conversion plans have apparently changed, and shareholders are in the dark as to just what those plans are.”

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment and did not provide a vote percentage at the meeting.

Campbell’s in 2023 reported that it had only 8% cage-free eggs, which has gone down from 26% in 2018, the proposal said.

The Humane Society of the United States pointed to companies like Unilever, which the proposal said sourced 100% cage-free eggs in the US and 72% globally in 2020.

Campbell’s said in its proxy statement that “at certain moments, we have adjusted the focus or scope of our commitments. We recently expanded the scope of our goals to include not only ingredients which we source directly, but additional inputs, including prepared ingredients that we purchase from suppliers and use in our products.”

The new scope of its commitment “includes the transition to the exclusive use of eggs from cage-free hens by the end of calendar year 2025—a commitment which we still expect to achieve,” the company said, adding that it will provide a specific update on its cage-free egg progress in March 2024.

Campbell’s also said that “progress towards sourcing of cage-free eggs is not necessarily linear and may be subject to factors beyond our control, such as Avian Flu outbreaks and supply chain disruption.”

There’s a movement among some states to require cage-free eggs, including a new mandate in Arizona.