WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. and RICHARDSON, Texas – Krispy Kreme, the famous doughnut and coffee chain that ranks among the 50 largest QSR chains with more than 1,400 retail shops in 25 countries, and Au Bon Pain, a premiere QSR café chain with over 200 locations globally, each won praise this week from animal protection non-profit Lever Foundation for committing to use only cage-free eggs and egg ingredients in their locations worldwide.
“We are on pace to convert 75% of our global system and 100% of U.S. Branded Sweet Treat products to cage-free by the end of 2021 [and] use 100% cage-free eggs globally by 2026,” noted Krispy Kreme in an updated responsible sourcing commitment released on the company’s website last week. Over 1,000 of Krispy Kreme’s 1,400 stores are located outside of the U.S., including hundreds of locations in Asia.
“We intend to work with our supply chain partners to source and use only cage-free eggs and egg products in all locations globally by 2025,” announced QSR chain Au Bon Pain in a new animal welfare commitment also released via the company’s website. “Au Bon Pain is committed to high standards of animal welfare across all of our operations.” Au Bon Pain has over 200 locations globally, with one-third of those located in Asia.
Both companies have been in the news in recent weeks. Au Bon Pain’s global cage-free egg commitment came concurrent with its purchase by Texas-based Ampex Brands. Krispy Kreme’s announcement came just one week after its July 1 initial public offering on the NASDAQ exchange.
“We applaud Krispy Kreme’s and Au Bon Pain’s commitments on this important animal welfare issue,” said Kirsty Tuxford, campaign manager at Lever Foundation, a global animal protection non-profit that worked with Krispy Kreme and Au Bon Pain on their commitments. “Over sixty of the world’s largest food companies have now committed to use only cage-free eggs globally, including throughout Asia. Krispy Kreme’s and Au Bon Pain’s pledges to do the same will boost animal welfare and will also benefit each company’s international customers.”
Lever Foundation is an international animal protection non-profit with staff operating across Asia, Europe, North America, and Latin America.
