Caterer Baxterstorey to use Farm Assured free range eggs at its sites next month

Over six million free range eggs every year will be used at its workplace restaurants, all of which will be sourced from a single, independent, third generation farm, Staveley's Eggs in Chorley, Lancashire. BaxterStorey is making a public commitment to procure only fresh eggs that meet welfare standards and exceed current regulations. The move precedes new EU legislation which is scheduled to come into force across Europe in 2012, banning the production of eggs using chickens kept in battery cages. This announcement follows an earlier move last year when BaxterStorey put in place a supply chain to ensure that all of the fresh meat that it uses comes only from farms located within the UK. Alastair Storey, chairman and chief executive officer of BaxterStorey, said: "More and more consumers are concerned about welfare improvements in local farming as well as the ecological and health impacts of using battery chicken cages." "Sourcing our free range eggs from one farm gives the people who dine in our restaurants the confidence to know that we can pinpoint the exact origins and pedigree of the food they are eating. This is a decision that we are proud to announce and it's a move that will benefit our consumers and the UK farming industry." According to statistics released by Compassion In World Farming (CIWF) there are currently over 300 million egg laying hens in the EU, 26 million of those are in the UK. Over half of the UK's egg laying hens (14 million) are confined to barren battery cages. Intensive battery farming leads to many hens suffering from serious ailments, including the brittle bone condition osteoporosis. This contributes to about half a million deaths amongst hens in their cages across the EU each year.