Attitudes of Target’s Consumers Regarding Egg Labeling

August 2024

Background

Consumers from across party lines in the United States have repeatedly expressed concerns regarding the cage confinement of egg-laying chickens. In cages, a chicken is confined in a space roughly the size of a microwave with as many as nine other birds, unable to even spread her wings. Eleven red and blue states have implemented laws banning the production of eggs from caged chickens, and most of them further ban the sale of such eggs. Public health and food safety organizations have opposed the caging of egg-laying chickens. 

Due to shifting consumer sentiment, food companies have also acted on the issue, with hundreds committing to only sell cage-free eggs and many—like Costco, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Nestle—getting close to the goal or already fully achieving it. 

In 2016, Target pledged to exclusively sell cage-free eggs by 2025. However, the company’s 2024 Sustainability and Governance Report states that it will not meet this goal, and that almost a third of its 2023 egg revenue came from caged eggs.

Polling Design and Key Findings

Positive Sum Strategies conducted a survey from July 27 to July 28, 2024 of 1,232 Target customers to understand the company’s consumer sentiment about cage-free eggs.

Target customers overwhelmingly believe (82%), across partisan lines, that chickens should be housed in open barns with no cages. When shown caged egg cartons, on average 66% of Target’s customers either wrongly identify the cartons as containing cage-free eggs, or simply were not sure. When asked about what “fresh” means on an egg carton—the term that Target uses on its caged egg cartons—nearly a third wrongly believe that it means the eggs come from cage-free chickens and nearly half aren’t sure. 

Further, a wide majority of Target shoppers (80%) feel that Target should provide signage in its egg aisles to indicate which eggs come from caged chickens. 72% of Target guests state that they’d positively view the store if it followed through with its commitment to only sell eggs from chickens not confined to cages, and a majority confirmed that they would be more likely to purchase Target’s private label Good & Gather eggs if they only came from uncaged chickens (only 7% said they’d be less likely).

Conclusion

Shoppers at Target clearly support cage-free housing for chickens over caged, but are confused by egg carton claims, resulting in significant caged egg sales from customers who think they’re buying cage-free. While working towards a full transition to 100% cage-free, Target should make its Good & Gather offerings fully cage-free, and place color-coded tags in the egg aisle identifying eggs from caged chickens. 

To read the full survey results, see below.