KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell state Global Cage-Free Policy.

For the past three months, members of the Open Wing Alliance have coordinated a bold campaign to demand better for the hens whose eggs supply Yum! Brands restaurants: KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell.

Founded by The Humane League, the Open Wing Alliance is a global coalition of 77 animal protection organizations in 63 countries. The massive push to improve the welfare of Yum! Brands chickens was a true team effort, with regional leaders coordinating efforts and organising actions in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe: Alfred Sihwa and Progress Mutape of Sibanye Animal Welfare Trust in Kenya; Wichayapat Piromsan of Sinergia Animal in Thailand; Camilla Rossete of Animal Equality in Brazil; Shady Heredia of Protección Animal Ecuador in Ecuador; Alina Puiu of Freedom & Respect for Every Earthling in Romania; and Julia Elizalde of Equalia in Spain.

With the support of the Open Wing Alliance, thousands of activists all over the globe took tens of thousands of hard-hitting actions on behalf of caged hens. Supporters like you flooded the chain with phone calls and emails. You created buzz on social media, with relentless likes, shares, re-shares, posts, and comments. You shared our petition—aimed at Yum! Brands CEOs so widely that it garnered nearly 170,000 signatures. You organised in-person protests in Denmark, Spain, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, Indonesia, Finland, Canada, Bulgaria, and Nigeria, which saw its first-ever protest for chicken welfare.

This is nothing short of a monumental victory for egg-laying hens. And it’s a watershed moment for our movement to end the abuse of animals.

What is Yum! Brands?

Yum! Brands owns and operates three of the most recognisable restaurant brands in the world: KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, as well as The Habit Burger Grill. Founded in Louisville, Kentucky in 1997, the multi-billion dollar company now has 1.5 million employees and close to 50,000 locations, with a presence in nearly every country in the world. In 2020 alone, Yum! Brands sales exceeded $50 billion.

Taking on a company of this size was no small feat. And the scale of this victory isn’t small either. Due to the massive size of Yum! Brands’ global supply chain, its new commitment to exclusively source cage-free eggs will reduce the suffering of millions of egg-laying hens at most of its locations and franchises in 150 countries and regions throughout the world.

Why is Yum! Brands' Global Policy Good for Chickens?

As a result of Yum! Brands’ global cage-free policy, KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill will eliminate one of the most horrific forms of animal cruelty from their supply chains: the confinement of chickens in cages. This policy is the latest, and largest, victory in the growing movement to ban the use of battery cages worldwide.

Growing concern for animal welfare among consumers is driving a shift towards cage-free eggs as an industry standard. Cages represent the most intense form of confinement in animal agriculture. These cages are often so tightly packed that a hen can’t even spread her wings, and many hens suffer from feather loss and foot injuries from constant friction caused by the wire mesh of the cage.

Life in a cage doesn’t just take a physical toll on egg-laying hens: these birds suffer through intense psychological pain as a direct result of their confinement. Cages prevent hens from engaging in many of their natural behaviours, including perching, roosting, dust-bathing, foraging, and exploring. The stress of having no outlet for their basic behavioural needs leads hens to harmful coping mechanisms, like self-mutilation and pecking at one another. Simply put, subjecting chickens to this level of mental anguish and physical trauma is nothing short of torture.

What Does Yum! Brands' Global Policy on Animal Welfare Actually Say?

Yum! Brands pledged to completely remove battery cages from its global supply chain by 2030. The majority of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and The Habit Burger Grill locations will make the transition to cage-free eggs and egg products by 2026, with the remaining locations transitioning by 2030. And the corporation has promised to report on its progress every year.

This new global policy follows closely on the heels of regional cage-free policies. Taco Bell, part of the Yum! Brands group, officially went 100% cage-free in North America and committed to going cage-free in Europe. More recently, Yum! Brands announced a cage-free policy for the United States and Western Europe, along with other leading markets.

Because of Yum! Brands’ global policy—in direct response to the actions taken by changemakers like you, millions of chickens are set to be spared from a life of suffering in a cruel battery cage. This policy promises that they’ll be able to spread their wings and move around without the risk of breaking their bones or cutting themselves on a wire cage. They’ll even be able to express their natural behaviours like nesting and dust-bathing, vastly improving their quality of life and mental well-being. Although these egg-laying hens will still suffer in our broken food system, eliminating cruel cages is an urgent first step towards ending the abuse of chickens worldwide.

How Can I Help?

After decades of suffering through the worst abuses in factory farms, the tides are finally turning for chickens. Because animal activists and informed consumers around the world are speaking up on their behalf, Yum! Brands—the world’s largest and most influential fast food company—committed to eliminating the worst forms of abuse facing egg-laying hens. This momentous victory shows that cage-free is the future.

With our largest and longest public cage-free campaign culminating in such a powerful victory, momentum is on our side.

Join us to continue taking action by calling out corporations that profit off of animal abuse—and holding companies like Yum! to their word. Together, we can create a future where no animal has to endure our broken food system.